Strange Meetings
by Crazy PurpleSage
Summary: Itachi is finally getting out of work late at night. Hoping to find a decent microwavable dinner at the local gas station, what he finds instead is one bubbling blond that he can't get out of his mind, or his way. ItaNaru. (See profile for update)
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto._

_Thank you to Imperial Mint for beta-ing! ;D _

_**Strange Meetings **_

"Yes, Ma'am. Is he breathing?" Itachi's monotone droned through the telephone to the frantic lady on the other side.

"We were just- ah- he was- I think- he's not moving." More hyperventilating was heard and didn't seem likely to stop any time soon.

Itachi sighed, "Okay. Is he breathing?" he asked again, with the same apathetic attitude as before, with just a slight hint of impatience.

Suddenly, the line went dead.

"Damn." He swore in his usual uncaring voice. With another sigh, he pressed a different button and began to relay the address into the receiver for the ambulance.

Setting down the phone, he sat back in his chair and waited for the next call. Glancing at the clock, he frowned slightly as he noted he still had two hours left till his shift was over.

Crossing and uncrossing his legs he fiddled with the worn cover of his book, playing with the idea of getting back to his page or just watching how the lights flicked every other second and lit up the hole-pocked foam ceiling at different intervals. Either way, he didn't have the energy to move his body enough to do either.

The time slugged by, but eventually the hand hit the twelve again after 120 gruesomely long minutes and he was free to go.

Grabbing his book he shut down his computer and walked out. His car was waiting in its usual spot with just enough gas to get him to the local station before going home.

One thing he liked about the late shift was the few cars he encountered on the road at such an early hour. Turning into the Mobil he pulled into the spot and turned off the car. After filling the tank, Itachi dropped his keys into his leather jacket and went into the convenience store. For once, he didn't feel like making dinner for once tonight. Too troublesome.

Walking down the aisle he went straight to the fridges along the wall to grab a small milk and grapefruit juice. Moving to the next aisle his eyes scanned the rows of microwaveable food with distaste. Cup ramen or Mac-and-cheese, neither of which he was fond of. He spent the next few minutes dithering over food, which he was most likely going to pick at while reading his novel before throwing it away with only a few bites eaten. Staring blankly into space, no longer seeing the nonperishable items before him, he didn't realize the blond haired boy coming towards him.

"Hey. I'd go with the cup ramen if I were you." An enthusiastic voice interrupted his thoughts followed by a tanned hand came into his vision and grabbed a couple of cups of ramen for himself. "It's really good for those late night snacks, too."

Itachi turned to look into deep blue eyes that seemed to absorb all other colour in the room.

The other man smiled, picked up another cup with his other hand and held it out to Itachi.

Itachi took it and turned away without another word, there was something unsettling about the other man that and he didn't know what to make of it.

Cashing up at the counter, he was surprised to find the boy already there, holding two plastic bags filled with sports drinks, candy, ramen, and juice. Seeing Itachi staring, he grinned at the taller man, "Just the essentials." He raised one bag-clad hand in a shrug.

Itachi smirked, instantly scolding himself for even letting that much emotion show to anyone. "Right."

Itachi stepped up to the counter and placed his three items down. Handing over the cash, he took the plastic handles and turned towards the glass doors only to be stopped by shocking blue eyes once again.

"What do you want?" Itachi pursed his lips and dropped his lids halfway in a forming glare.

The blond shrugged. "Mm. Nothing. What're you doing out this late at night?" he held the door open for Itachi.

Seeing his chance, Itachi tried to quickly reach his car and escape further questioning from the blond. However, he soon realized that he wouldn't be able to make it in less than 20 seconds to successfully get away. "I just got out of work." He grunted.

"Oh! Where do you work?"

They were at Itachi's car. The blond leaned his shoulder against the door, preventing him from opening it.

"Hn. Government. I answer 911 emergency phone calls."

"Wow! Really? That must be awful: hearing all those people in trouble, but not being able to be there for them. How do you do it?" his eyes were wide; amazement and fear reflected even in the night gas station light.

Itachi shrugged. "It's no big deal."

"No big deal! You must be some kind of saint or humanitarian to work at such a place. That, or a huge, uncaring jerk." He smiled teasingly.

Itachi mentally started counting in his head, waiting for this person to let him go home. He seemed like he could go on forever if he so wished.

"I'm Naruto, by the way," he thrust his hand out to grip Itachi's tightly; shaking it once before letting it fall limply at Itachi's side. "Nice to meet you…"

Itachi cocked an eyebrow. This wasn't the direction he wanted to go in, but what the heck. "Itachi."

"Nice to meet you, Itachi. You headed home, then?"

Itachi nodded and pulled on the door handle. "So, if you don't mind…"

"Sure, sure. I'll see you around." Naruto raised his hand and walked out of the harsh lights to the sidewalk.

"Whatever." Itachi slid into his car and turned out the opposite way from Naruto, but not before seeing Naruto turn down two streets over into, what he presumed to be, a neighbourhood. Mentally shaking his head, he pulled out into the road, not having to wait, with not one car in sight. "What an odd guy."

~ Owari ~

_There will be more to come, but please tell me what you thought. My beta had a craving for pot noodle after reading it, what about you? _


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto._

_Thank you to Imperial Mint for beta-ing! ;D _

_**Strange Meetings **_

_**Ch.2**_

"I think I'm going to the gym this week." Kisame, a coworker, leaned over his desk to speak with another coworker, Deidara, in the next cubicle.

"I'm going tomorrow. Naruto'll be there, un."

Itachi paused, his fingers poised over the keys to his computer. Naruto. That the was the name of the boy he had met at the gas station Monday night. They couldn't be talking about the same person, though. Then again, how many people had an odd name like Naruto?

"Right, right. The blond." Kisame lolled his arm over the makeshift wall. "I like that kid. He's good, and fun to talk to, too. Too bad he only does weekends."

"Mm, un." Deidara hummed in agreement. "But it makes the days he is there extra special."

Itachi's hands clenched in an unexplained anger. Blond hair, too. It's possible it's the same person.

"So, I'll see you tomorrow?" Kisame waved his hand in farewell.

"Yes, un." Deidara answered briefly before going back to the screen, which had a one in a hundred percent chance of actually being work related. Itachi was proven correct as he heard the blond man giggle a second later.

So Naruto worked at a gym on the weekends. No wonder he didn't look fat from eating all that cup ramen. But what an odd job just to do on the weekends. What was his real occupation to have to add another job when he could be relaxing over the weekend?

"Kisame." Itachi caught his arm as he made his way to use the bathroom.

"Huh? Itachi-sama."

"Where is the gym you were talking about?" Itachi sent him a cold stare, cutting off any ideas of small talk.

"Oh, that's down the road from the supermarket. Two streets past the pet shop." Itachi nodded his thanks and released the other man's arm. But instead of taking advantage of his freedom, Kisame stood still. "Why'd you want to know? Do you work out?"

"No." Itachi turned back to his computer. End of discussion.

Truth be told, he didn't know why he had asked, why he had stopped to listen to the boy's name, why he was even remotely interested in what this boy did with his life besides buy gross ramen at odd gas stations late at night- because that ramen really did make him sick. He could tell it wasn't good the moment he swallowed the first mouthful, and yet he had finished the whole thing anyway. Another thing he couldn't explain.

Not that any of it should matter. Perhaps he needed more sleep. Maybe the work was getting to his head. As unlikely as it all sounded, to Itachi at least, he couldn't come up with a better explanation as to why he suddenly cared.

Sighing in resignation, he decided that he just might as well pay a visit to the gym tomorrow. Hopefully that just by seeing the boy again he could understand what's wrong with him and figure out what he needed to do to make it right again- whatever 'right' meant to him, anyway.

Why was his mind being so difficult lately? That's one thing he would like to find out. Though he doubted that going to some sweaty gym, where people were so obsessed with working out to fill their dull mornings, was going to help.

And it turns out, as he walked into the brick building the next morning, that he was right. Or so he assumed as he by passed the front desk, looking like he was a seasoned member who knew exactly where he was going. Far from it. He just followed the crowd of individuals clad in all their sweat clothes and hoped that the deities above were aiding him in his search.

As he opened the door that led to the first floor, he remembered why he never even thought about joining a gym. The first thing assaulted was his nose; the rancid stench of sweat, oiled machinery, and weak deodorant failing to do its job. The next thing he took into account was the fact that he could barely hear himself think, what with all the panting, grunting, machines running, and the light bass of music playing too loudly for simple headphones, it came as no surprise, really.

All the same, he came here for a purpose and the disturbing primitiveness of this place was not going to deter him from his goal. Now, it seemed, what Itachi could gather from the conversation that Naruto was either a regular or he worked here.

Itachi's eyes swept through the rows and rows of bicycle machines, weight lifting gear, barbells, urgs, and many other things he couldn't even begin to put a name to, though he had seen them before.

Deciding that standing at the entrance was not helping his process, he began to walk deeper inside.

The stench just got worse, the noise got louder- he could now here a few bits of panted conversation here and there- and Itachi was beginning to wonder if he shouldn't just cut his losses and turn around the way he had come.

One last sweep of the room and-

Naruto.

He stood behind a man lifting weights, apparently spotting the guy- though the man looked like he could handle much more than what he was lifting. His blond head was tilted down, but there couldn't possibly be anyone else with hair that bright in colour.

"Naruto-kun?"

The blond looked up, a bright smile on his face, which Itachi noticed squinted his eyes into oblivion- not at all the same smile he had seen the other night. Spotting Itachi, his eyes widened, showing the clear, piercing blue.

"Itachi-san!" he put the barbell down on the rack and dusted off his hands before making his way over to Itachi- past the various exercise equipment that was too tall to walk over, yet too close together that one had to find a suitable, nonexistent, path around. "We finally meet again! What are you doing here?"

Itachi watched as Naruto wedged himself between a weight lifting chair and bicycle machine. "Why wouldn't I be here?" Quickly thinking over his words he inwardly cursed himself. Something had obviously got messed up in the process from his thoughts to the words in his mouth. What did he even mean by that?

However, Naruto apparently understood well enough.

As he finally reached Itachi's side he looked him up and down. "Well, you don't look like the lifting/ workout type. More of a runner's build, if you ask me." Itachi silently raised an eyebrow, unable to squash the idea that this man was indeed checking him out. "Plus," Naruto didn't seem to have registered the affect of his words or actions, for he continued as though he had said nothing out of the ordinary. "I would've noticed if you'd come here often."

This time Itachi's lips parted slightly, the closest thing to a jaw-dropping shock reaction as he got.

Seeing Itachi's frozen face, something clicked behind Naruto's eyes, which immediately grew in horror at the implication of his own words. "Ah, I mean. I work here and all. Part time, at least." He hastened to explain. "So unless you come at really obscure times, we would've met before. That's all I meant." he muttered, looking down at his fingers.

Itachi nodded in understanding, trying to focus on the action of moving his head to quell the odd sensation of disappointment he felt at Naruto's explanation. "Oh."

"So," Naruto dragged out the word, scrambling for a conversation starter, looking at Itachi as though trying to read into his eyes. "What are you here for, then?"

"I just came to check it out. And now I have. Good day." He nodded, then turned around to leave, and then just as swiftly turned his head back around to Naruto, "You're right. I do prefer to run." Taking a step, he stopped when Naruto called back loudly, as though Itachi had already reached the door. Then again, it was pretty loud in here.

"If you ever want a place to run come to West Wilcox Park at 7 in the morning. Best time to be out and about." Itachi could hear the gleeful excitement in the other boy's voice.

Nodding again, without looking back at Naruto, he continued out the door.

In all honesty, the last time he had officially run was for track and field in college- six years ago. But perhaps he would pick it up again. He was free this weekend, after all.

_~ Well, that was the second chapter. More to come. Please review! ~_


	3. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto._

_Thank you to Imperial Mint for beta'ing! ;D _

_This chapter is dedicated to Thegoldenlock for her great comments that helped me think of new ideas for the next chapter! ;D _

_**Strange Meetings **_

_**Ch.3**_

The trees were in full bloom, the birds were just coming out to chirp their morning tune, and the streets were devoid of all but elderly couples taking their morning walk. However, Itachi noticed nothing of this except for his steadied breathing- in, in, out, in, in, out- and the sound of rubber hitting the pavement in a soothing rhythm. His house was only three blocks from the park, which he surprisingly had never been to before in all the three years since he's moved here, and decided to run the whole way there. Good warm-up, if nothing else.

Passing the last few strategically placed poplar trees along the sidewalk, he came upon the short, worn stone steps into the city's little haven. Climbing them two at a time, he soon stood jogging in place in front of the West Wilcox Park sign. Laid out before him was a huge map of the park itself.

Wow, that was a lot of ground to cover in one morning. There seemed to be little chance that he would even see Naruto. What was his last name anyway? How would he even begin to look for him in this huge park? He couldn't even see the big pond, supposedly in the middle- ducks and all. Where was he, anyway? Where was he anyway? Ah! The red arrow stating 'You Are Here' always helped. But was Naruto coming from this entrance or the other two that opened up to the busy populated city outside? Perhaps he would be able to see at least one of the entrances from the center. Or maybe even see Naruto himself.

Wait, was that why he was here?

Itachi ceased his standstill jog, a slight scowl appearing on his face.

Didn't he just come here to run? That Naruto person had just recommended a good place, and he was just checking it out. Though he hated to admit it, the whole reason he had visited that Godforsaken gym, the whole reason he was standing here right now, was because his curiosity had been piqued. When he heard Kisame say the boys name in the office, he had felt a strange need to know if it was the same person. That was all. Not that he would have ever cared in the past, but this time, this strange boy actually made him second guess his thoughts. He was dangerous, that much was obvious. And yet, here he was, at the park the boy suggested, trying to catch a glimpse of him, and feeling- dare he even think it- disappointed that he had caught no hide nor hair of the blond gaki.

But all the same, that one person couldn't be the main reason he came. Honestly, it wasn't like he was even dressed to impress, or anything. Jogging shorts and a run-of-the-mill t-shirt; his usual running outfit, he was quite shocked it even fit after all these years.

He really had to shake this. He was just here for a calming run. That's all; nothing more. Slowly letting out a breath, he turned to the right, pushed off on his heels, and began his morning jog.

Once again, Itachi concentrated solely on his breathing. That was always how he was able to outrun the competition. He simply forgot they were even there. His own little secret to running, it was all an issue of mind over matter. And he had always been accomplished in matters of the mind.

Itachi ran through the park, no clear path in his mind, for over two hours. Once the park became more populated with younger children, their parents, and students trying to hide out to skip school, he decided to take his leave. It was time for him to leave and possibly get something to drink along the way home- he felt so dehydrated.

Taking in his surroundings for the first time, he tried to find one of the exits, or at least a path that would lead him back out. He could spot the pond through the trees to his left. That would be a good place to start, if nothing else.

As soon as he broke through the trees, his peace of mind cracked along with the fragile twigs that had snapped beneath his fingers so easily. Children feeding the ducks and playing tag along the edge of the pond while the parents fret on the benches, caught between yelling and jumping up to pull their kids away, spread out before his eyes and ears. It was a madhouse. No wonder Naruto suggested an earlier time.

Standing as far away from the hectic scene as he could, Itachi stretched his neck to see all around him. No blond. No break from the expanse of trees, running paths, and hills worthy for true sledding once the snow hit. Well, there were quite a few exits; one way must lead him back into the city. Walking as far from the loud noise as he could, Itachi jogged in another direction from where he had come.

Sure enough, after running in the opposite direction from the pond for a few minutes, the trees became fewer and further apart. And the cars could soon be heard rushing by like the world would stop if they even slightly let up on the break.

This was definitely familiar, though how he ended up so far from his original starting point was surprising. He must have run further than he had thought. This was just six blocks from his house, and only a minute away from a small market. He could quickly go in, get water, and then head back home.

Slowing to a paced walk once he descended similar worn steps away from the green sanctuary, Itachi made his way through the quickly growing crowd to the small shop. He had shopped here enough times to know which bottled water was good to buy and which brands tasted like oil on your tongue. Maybe he would get some kind of energy bar or fruit, as well. It wasn't like he was really in the mood for breakfast, anyway.

The place was actually quite packed for it still being only a bit after nine on a Saturday. Ignoring the kids hording around the candy section, adults lining up behind the coffee machine, and travelers waiting to use the restroom, Itachi walked to the back fridges. Scanning his eyes for his favourite brand before he opened the door and let out all the cold air, he quickly spotted the familiar blue and red bottle. Pulling the handle, he reached into grab a bottle, but stopped when he saw a familiar tanned hand appear over his, stretching to for an energy drink above.

"I suppose water is better for me, but I just prefer the extra sugar boost, you know?"

Itachi spun, eyebrows shooting up in shock and surprise. "Naruto!?"

"Itachi-san." Naruto grinned in greeting, "I'm guessing you did take my advice this morning." He pointed to Itachi's sweaty short and flushed face. "Sorry we missed each other. I always forget how hard it is to find people in that big place." Naruto grinned sheepishly.

Itachi noticed the boy's own flushed face and running outfit, and nodded in response. "I suppose so. Did you just finish?"

Naruto nodded, grin, if possible, widening even further. "Yep, and I always come here afterwards to get rehydrated. I didn't expect to see you here, too. We seem to meet in the oddest places." He cocked his head to the side. "So, what are your plans for today?"

Itachi closed his mouth, abruptly, taken back. He wasn't the type of person you asked those kinds of questions to. Everyone seemed to understand well enough that he wasn't one to spark a conversation with, let alone one to ask personal questions of. And yet here this boy was, defying even the simplest law, laid down since he had entered school. It confounded him, and yet he found himself answering. "I don't know yet."

"Well, in that case, would you mind accompanying me somewhere? Well, once we change, that is." Naruto held the cold can to the side of his head. "I'm in sore need of a good shower, what about you?"

Itachi simply nodded and followed Naruto to the check-out counter, once again.

_~There! Third chapter done. The next one might be a bit longer. I need to do a few other things that hold slight more importance. I'll see you all in a week. And for the very few who celebrate it, happy Thanksgiving! ~_

_**Oh, and please review! Where do you guys think they're going next? **_


	4. Chapter 4

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto._

_Thank you Imperial Mint for being an awesome beta! I must say that Itachi belongs to her unconditionally ;D_

_Read and review, if you would! ;D _

_**Strange Meetings **_

_**Ch.4**_

"C'mon." Naruto grabbed Itachi's hand and pulled him down the streets.

Itachi was still shocked at himself for agreeing. Well, he didn't so much verbally agree as to nod his assent. But the technicalities didn't matter right now, the main point was that he was being led by a stranger to God knows where. Well, maybe not a complete stranger, but still a stranger. He only knew the boy's name, the fact that he worked part-time at a gym, and that he liked ramen and running. That wasn't much to go on. He wouldn't even give anyone a second look with that little of information. And yet, he had yet to pull away and leave. In fact, he kind of liked- never mind.

"We'll get cleaned up before we go." Naruto's cheery voice cut through Itachi's confused musings. "C'mon. My place is close."

Itachi continued to follow, caught in a trance that didn't allow his feet to do anything but mirror the blonde's steps.

Naruto took him down the street and past a few places and shortcuts that Itachi hadn't even known existed. Ten minutes were spent in relative silence, aside from Naruto's occasional commentary on the scenery, graffiti on the building walls, greetings to shop owners, and people passing by. Eventually, they reached a small, but quaint apartment complex.

Naruto bounded up the steps and unlocked the door, holding it open for Itachi to step through.

"Thank you."

Naruto nodded with a smile and led him up another flight of steps to the fourth floor. Down the hall to a plain door, Naruto opened it allowed Itachi to step through first.

Itachi entered the brightly lit and cozy apartment. It was the perfect angle for natural light to fill the entire room. The first room was a kitchen opened into a living room, and Itachi could see a bedroom and bathroom to his right. Nicely kept, no questionable dirt or mold visible anywhere. If anything, Itachi would call the living room slightly cluttered, but neatly so.

"I have some larger sweats in my drawers. Sakura keeps telling me I need to get taller and purposefully buys me sizes too large." Itachi looked around to see Naruto disappear into his room, followed by the sound of drawers opening and rustling of clothes.

"Here," A moment later, a pile of clothes were being thrust into Itachi's face. "You can take a shower first, and the put these on." Naruto pointed to the bathroom, waiting for Itachi to react as he continued to stare blankly ahead at Naruto. "That is, unless you don't want to get cleaned up."

Itachi seemed to snap out of it, and grabbed the clothes out of Naruto's hands. "Thanks."

Closing the door behind him, he leant against the counter and stared down into the sink. What was he doing at this man's home, about to take a shower? It had somehow escalated from letting the man pick his dinner one night at a random gas station to being invited to his house followed by what he could only assume was a date. Where did Naruto plan on taking him anyway? And once again, _why had he agreed?_

Deciding that his time would be better spent ridding himself of the sticky sweat he had acquired this morning, Itachi went over and started the shower. Who knows what Naruto would do if he didn't hear the water running soon? He wouldn't come in here to check on him would he?

Looking over to see that the door was definitely locked, Itachi shed his clothes in record time and jumped into the shower. He was safe behind the curtains before his brain even registered what his body was doing.

Picking up the soap- while simultaneously trying _not _to think where it's been, Itachi cleaned himself and watched all the dirt wash away with the water.

Unconsciously reaching for the shampoo he found Men's Shampoo for blonds. Well, he certainly did not want to find out what would happen if he used that. Though he doubted it would do anything at all, he wasn't keen on taking any chances.

Reluctantly running his fingers through his slightly knotting hair, he turned and shut off the water. Quickly drying himself off, he felt at a loss without his brush. Not that his hair was especially knotty or anything, he just preferred to comb out the water than towel dry.

Well, beggars couldn't be choosers. He would just have to make do.

Eying the black and red t-shirt and baggy black sweats, he quickly dressed and tried to make himself as presentable as possible without his usual hair care products and such.

Tying his hair back he checked his appearance in the mirror one more time and folded the towel and hung it over the shower curtain. With a cursory glance he made sure that the bathroom was cleaner than when he entered and finally grabbed the handle to leave.

Sounds of bacon sizzling and metal being moved around a surface accompanied by the sound of tap water running hit his ears. And above all that came Naruto's low singing. It sounded familiar, but Itachi wasn't too concerned with the title of the song and band at the moment. Rather, he was more focused on the lack of clothes Naruto currently had on.

It wasn't that unusual for guys to go around their own houses topless. But for once, Itachi felt that it should be some kind of taboo.

Naruto abruptly cut off his tune and turned as though he suddenly sensed another's eyes on him. "Oh, hey Itachi!" he raised one hand, the other still holding the skillet where the bacon was spitting. "I thought I'd make us some breakfast. I don't know about you, but I'm hungry."

Itachi simply nodded and focused on keeping down any and all forms of a blush from showing.

"Thank you for the shower and clothes." He said as he took a seat at the kitchen table.

"Sure. No problem. It's not like I'm gonna be wearing them any time soon. Or ever," He muttered the last part as he turned back to the stove. "So. How do you like your eggs?"

Itachi barely registered the words other than a question was asked of him, from the ending inflection in Naruto's voice. "Um. What were you singing?"

Naruto quirked an eyebrow in amusement, but answered all the same. "The Only Way is the Wrong Way-"

"Filter."

"Yeah." Naruto smiled in surprise. "You know them?"

"Yes. They're good." Itachi nodded his approval.

Naruto's smile stretched even wider. "Awesome. Another Filter fan." He reached over to another pan, the muscles in his back moving like smooth rope around the bones. The sun seeping in from the open window seemed to shine off his skin, Itachi was distracted once again as he ran his eyes up and down the toned torso. "So. What kind of eggs _do _you want?"

Naruto's arms flexed as he reached to the back of the stove and then pulled his hand back to his body to grab something else. Itachi could easily make out the indent of his abs from the side. They looked solid and smooth. Like you could just run your fingers around his middle and then down his stomach to the little orange fabric from his boxers poking above his jogging sweats. And then-

"Itachi!"

Itachi's head snapped up.

"I've been calling you for a minute. What were you looking at?" Naruto had on an innocent pout pulling his lips together.

When Itachi failed to answer, he asked again. "What kind of eggs do you like?"

"Scrambled."

"On it!" Naruto turned back around, odd incident completely forgotten in favour of finishing breakfast.

Itachi shook his head, once he was sure Naruto wasn't looking anymore. What had he been thinking about?

Nothing. That was what. Nothing at all. He was already forgetting it all. No need to feel regret or uncertainty if he didn't remember.

"Tada." A plate of scrambled eggs was placed before him with a side of bacon.

Scrambled eggs? Had he asked for that? He hadn't had scrambled eggs since he was a little kid. His mom used to make them for him before he had a difficult test at school. But that was so long ago and-

He needed to get his thoughts into order.

"Um, thank you." He picked up his fork and dug in.

"You're welcome." Naruto sounded pleased with the gratitude. He quickly followed suit and dug into his own breakfast of the same scrambled eggs and bacon. "Let me know if you need anything."

They ate in silence. The only sounds were the clink of silverware and glass as they enjoyed the warm breeze and sunlight streaming in.

"According to the music you play I will dance." Naruto broke the silence as he laid his fork down on his plate.

"Excuse me?" Itachi looked up, sure he had heard wrong. Was Naruto speaking to him?

"Just an old quote. I forget from where." he shrugged. "I was just thinking of the music you can hear from simple silence." He picked up his and Itachi's plate and brought them to the sink. "And just to warm you, the water calls me to sing. So don't be surprised and try to leave. I'll try to keep it as low as possible."

Itachi blinked, confused, until he realized what Naruto was talking about.

"I'll be right out in a sec." Naruto made his way towards the bathroom. "Feel free to make yourself at home, crash on the couch, raid the fridge, whatever. Though I'm not sure how much I have in there. I need to go shopping." He mumbled, bringing his finger to his lip in thought.

It was adorable.

Itachi shook his head. Hard. Where had that thought come from?

"You okay, Itachi-san?"

Itachi nodded absentmindedly. "I'm fine."

"Right, well "I'll be out in a few."

The door swung shut behind him.

Itachi heard the water turn on followed by a small bang.

A little worried, though it was most likely that he had merely banged his knee on the counter, or something, Itachi got up and made his way to the door.

Knocking lightly, he was surprised when the door gave way to his finger.

There stood Naruto, bending down from the shower to grab the shampoo bottle that had fallen, and trying to clean up the small mess it spilled on the tile by splashing some water onto the floor. He didn't seem to notice Itachi entering, with the noise of the water falling around his ears and the clatter of the shampoo bottle that kept slipping out of his hands.

Itachi felt his jaw drop as he watched the beads of water roll down Naruto's golden tan back, taut muscles bunching in the shoulders as the blond moved his arms back and forth from under the shower head to outside the tub. His hair was partially wet, but the nape of his neck still dry. Most of the water had fallen on his shoulders and down his arms as he stretched down.

Naruto cursed softly as he almost lost his balance reaching over to the sink to grab a towel to place on the floor. Grabbing the side of the tub with both hands, he steadied his feet and pushed his upper body straight again. Getting the shampoo bottle back from the floor, he finally reeled it in and placed it back in its rightful spot.

Sighing at the complicated task he just completed, Naruto shut the curtain closed and resumed his shower.

Itachi wiped his forehead, feeling the drops of sweat forming as he breathed in and out. Whether from the hot water fogging the mirror or his own blushing, Itachi didn't wait to explore further as he slowly closed the door. Making sure to not make a noise as he eased the door shut, wincing at every creak it made, he eventually back stepped his way to the kitchen. Falling into his chair, he breathed a sigh of relief.

What if Naruto had seen him? He would have surely called him a hentai and driven him out of his house.

But it was just an accident. An accident. That's all it was. It wasn't like he had _planned _to see that gorgeous boy naked in the shower. Sure he had a great body –no denying that –but that didn't mean he wanted to see him naked.

Itachi cradled his face in his hands, shaking his head back and forth.

He was not having thoughts about Naruto's body. He was just another guy. What did he care? This was so wrong. He was quite positive he was asexual. There was no such thing as being attracted to another human being in Itachi's world. It must just be from the run. His body was still high from the morning exercise. He didn't know what he was doing. It was all his mind on too much oxygen than he was used to at the moment.

Right. Perfect solution.

He needed to clear his mind before it came up with another solution.

"Heh. Forget my clothes."

Itachi looked up; startled. When had the shower turned off?

Naruto stood sheepishly by the bathroom door, a small white towel wrapped around his waist. He quickly made his way to his bedroom, avoiding Itachi's stare as best he could, mumbling a hurried apology as he passed.

It was his own place, after all. Probably didn't think about changing in front of guests. Just slipped his mind, that's all. It's not like he did it on purpose. Right?

Itachi mulled these thoughts over and over in his mind as he waited for Naruto to come back out and tell them what he planned to do, part of him wanting to move on from this whole situation, while the other part wished he would just stay in his room forever so they could avoid confrontation all together.

"Okay. All set." Naruto burst through the door, clad in a bright orange jacket over a white shirt and faded jeans. "Ready?" he looked over at Itachi, stopping on his way to the door.

"Um. Hmph." The raven cleared his throat. "Where are we going?"

Naruto flashed him a brilliant smile, teeth and all. "You'll see. C'mon. We need to take Johnny."

"Pardon me?" Itachi froze as he made to get up.

"Johnny. My jeep." As he opened the door and motioned for Itachi to follow, he elaborated. "I thought it needed a name. Like. What if it turns out to be some alien species disguised as a car and I didn't name him? It would be insulted that I cared so little."

"You mean like Transformers?" Itachi winced. He had to be kidding.

"Yea!" Naruto's eye lit up as he turned to Itachi with shock and awe. "You never know. Besides," he fiddled with the keys in his pockets. "He looks like a Johnny." Naruto shrugged and led Itachi out back.

_**_______**_

It did indeed look like a Johnny.

How that was so, Itachi didn't know. Maybe Naruto's little rant had subliminal messaging; some mind- washing technique.

In any case, the orange and black jeep seemed to be saying, 'Call me Johnny' as soon as he got into the passenger's seat. Maybe he should take a few nights off the late shift next week. Something really was getting to him, and it wasn't the constant cries for help coming through the phone.

"You can turn the radio to whatever you like. I usually listen to soft rock." Naruto didn't even pull out of the parking lot before he turned on the radio and had some Elton John playing.

Itachi fought down a smirk as he leaned back. "No, this is fine."

"You sure?"

Itachi just nodded and looked ahead.

"You're not worried I'm taking you out in the woods to kill you or something? I'm surprised you're coming along so easily." Naruto mused, keeping his eyes on the road.

Itachi chuckled wryly. "I'm sure I could outsmart me before you could ever overpower me."

"Hey! How would you know?" Naruto cried out, indignant. "How can you say that to someone you barely know?" he pouted.

"How can you invite someone you barely know over to your house, make them breakfast and then take them somewhere in your car?" Itachi countered.

Naruto shrugged. "Easy. I'm just a good judge of character."

Itachi let the words sink in, the rest of the ride left listening to music. He barely even noticed where he was being taken until the buildings began to shrink and concrete made way for green grass and tall trees.

"Where are we going, Naruto-kun?"

"Hmm?" Naruto stopped humming to the music and glanced briefly at Itachi. "Just a place where I like to get away."

Minutes later they were veering off the road and onto a dirt path.

Itachi felt almost claustrophobic, surrounded by dominating pines. But soon enough, it opened up to a beautiful scene on the lake.

It all looked familiar somehow.

"We're here." Naruto announced as he parked as close to the water he could get without endangering his car. Cutting the engine, he got out and slammed the door behind him. Walking to the front of the car, he simply gazed out on the scene before him. Arms bent at his sides, like a king surveying his land.

"You coming, Itachi-san?" he called over his shoulder to the man still sitting inside the car.

Itachi got out and joined Naruto, who was jumping up to sit on the hood of his car.

"Have you ever been out of the city?" Naruto sat back on the windshield and waited for Itachi to sit beside him.

"Yes." He paused, once he had made himself somewhat comfortable; taking a wide sweep of the sight before him.

Naruto cleared his throat. "So, where'd you go?"

"Our mother used to take us to places like this almost every other weekend. She would say we need to clear our heads and open our minds." His lips twitched at the memory.

Naruto turned his head to look at Itachi. "Why don't you guys go anymore?"

"She's dead. Died of lung cancer my last year of university."

"Oh," Naruto quickly looked away, ashamed for asking. "Sorry."

"No. It's okay. It was years ago." Itachi seemed unfazed, and continued to look out, stuck in the past of happier times with his family. "She would get the whole family to come out. Father, my younger brother, Sasuke, even our cousins sometimes. But it was mainly just the four of us."

Naruto perked up again, "What about Sasuke and your dad?"

"Father fell into a depression ever since mother died. He devoted himself to his company and ignored everything else. Once Sasuke was out of uni, he placed him high up the food chain and uses him as a lap dog to follow his every order."

Naruto stayed silent, chewing his lip. It was like intruding on a family situation.

"Father tried to do the same to me. But I refused to be controlled. I wanted to do my own thing. Be able to try different jobs and professions before I settled down." Itachi leaned forward, casually brushing his hand against the warming metal.

"So that's how you ended up as a social worker?"

"Hn. I suppose. I never intended to stay there so long. Once I figure out what I want to do next I'll probably quit. What?" Itachi turned to Naruto to see an amused grin spreading across his face.

"Nothing, nothing," He assured.

Itachi's face remained emotionless, fixed on Naruto, showing that he didn't believe him.

"It's just, that sounds like something I would do. Jump around jobs just for the fun of it. Like, I'd work at a candy shop, maybe a pet shop, fast food place, daycare center." His eyes lit up as he looked out to some future that only he could see. Finally coming back to the present, he turned to Itachi. "So what were your jobs before working for the emergency phone lines?"

"Candy shop clerk."

"No way." Naruto's eyes widened, while Itachi continued to stare with his serious expression.

"No, not really." He smirked.

Naruto poked out his tongue. "Meanie."

Itachi raised an eyebrow. "My first job was at a coffee shop. Behind the counter."

"You don't strike me as a people person."

"I'm not. I got fired after a month. Apparently I wasn't peppy enough for the customers."

"Imagine that." Naruto chuckled. "Politeness doesn't get you everywhere."

"How do you know I'm polite?" Itachi sent an inquisitive look.

"I can just tell. Plus, you've been polite with me all this time." Naruto smiled, pleased.

"Hm." Itachi ignored the response and resumed his gaze out on the lake.

It was like two friends taking the day to just relax. Though Itachi wasn't going to dissect Naruto's invitation any further, he hoped that they would not be leaving for a long time.

_**_______**_

Yay! I finally got another chapter out! :D What do you think? Hate me, love me, want to hug me? XD


	5. Chapter 5

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto._

_Okay, Imperial Mint is incredibly mistaken when she thinks that Itachi doesn't belongs to her. All readers please don't ignore the last note that she tampered with. She has to resort to things like this to stop everyone else lying to themselves. When really, the actual flesh and blood Itachi is right there next to her without being threatened! So take that! ;P _

_**Strange Meetings **_

_**Ch.5**_

Naruto sighed; his eyes glazed over. The sun had already reached its peak in the sky and was just beginning its descent once again.

Itachi continued to stare up at the purpling sky, the clouds moving past at a leisurely pace.

"So besides the gym, what other jobs do you do, Naruto?"

Naruto blinked in response, his mind catching up to his ears as he readjusted his eyes. "Bunch of different things." He scratched the back of his neck. "Trainer," he nodded toward Itachi. "I work for a small music company. I do the album covers for small bands."

"You're an artist." Itachi raised his eyebrows in surprise. That wasn't something he had expected. Then again, this kid was full of surprises. "I didn't see any work at your house."

"Yea," Naruto shrugged. "I don't like to hang up my own work. Despite what people say, I don't think I'm _that_ good. And even if I was, that'd be too pretentious of me to make visitors look at my art."

Itachi smirked in amusement. "I don't think it would be too pretentious to hang up one or two pieces. I know I would if I had that type of skill." He glanced down at Naruto's stomach, watching his smaller hands slowly rise and fall with each breath. "You have an artist's hands, I suppose. Smaller…"

"You can say it," Naruto sighed. "Delicate." He made a face. "I get that all the time."

"I was going to say, good for details," Itachi smiled, turning his eyes back to the sky. "Delicate makes it sound like you're going to break any minute. And while the artist should reflect their art in more ways than one, it's the art piece you have to handle with care; _you're_ not made of porcelain."

A smile slowly grew on Naruto's face as Itachi's words took effect. "That's an interesting way to look at it." His own eyes turned to the clouds, and glazed over in thought once again.

"But you seem more like a Jack-of-all-trades. Any other jobs or hobbies?"

"Hmm." Naruto closed his eyes, "The occasional dog-walking for fun. Odd catering job when my old mentour, Iruka, needs extra hands." His fingers twitched over his shirt, counting off the list in his head. "And tea- oh shit!" he cried. Sliding off the hood of the car and dashing to the door. "Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit."

"You do know that's it's not good to swear." Itachi smirked, amused more than worried at Naruto's reaction. For some reason, he got the sense that Naruto was the dramatic type.

Watching with interest, Itachi turned his head as Naruto rolled frantically off the hood of the car and fell to the ground with little grace. He clumsily got up and thrust his hand into his pocket for his keys.

"Argh!" Naruto shouted as his keys failed to fit smoothly into the lock for the fourth time. "What time is it?"

Itachi lifted his wrist to eye level. "5 o'clock. Why?"

"Oh." He moaned. Jabbing the keys one more time, they stuck in, and Naruto finally opened the door with a bang. "Get in."

Itachi raised an eyebrow, but complied, sliding off the hood and getting inside.

"Is something wrong?" Itachi settled himself into the passenger's seat, surprising even himself at how much he was enjoying this. Naruto didn't seem to be in dire trouble, it sounded like he forgot something.

"I tutour kids who need extra help every Saturday; at 5:30." He checked the clock, groaning at the numbers that read 5:04, and shoved the key into the ignition. Not even bothering to back up, he turned right around with a protesting screech from the car, and spun back through the trees and onto the rugged road.

"Well," Itachi adjusted his seatbelt, smirk still in place –not even trying to hide his amusement for once. "I would suggest you speed, but I can see you're already on that."

Naruto groaned, keeping his eyes on the road as his head dropped lower. If he wasn't driving he would probably be banging his head on the steering wheel.

The trees raced past them, a blur of sharp leaves and hazy green. Before Itachi knew it, they were back on the gravel road, and were turning out onto the highway a second later. He could have sworn that had taken much longer on the way in.

It felt like they were flying over the blacktop, barely skimming the surface as Naruto made his little jeep do the impossible.

Making a sequence of sharp turns into the city, they finally parked in a small parking lot behind an old brick building.

Finally stopping long enough to take in the scenery, Itachi looked up at the building before them. A few choice swear words and other expressions that Itachi did not know the meaning of were fading in a rainbow of colours on the wall. He had heard that graffiti was the most expressive form of art; he wondered if Naruto agreed. Taking into account his personality, Itachi gauged that his art would be very interesting to see.

As soon as they stepped out of the jeep, Itachi noticed that the sounds of the city were almost on mute. In the distance you could hear cars racing, horns honking, people shouting, and the electric buzz in the air that seems to accompany all cites. But right here, where they were shaded by this foundation of bricks, it was fairly quiet.

"It's nice, isn't it?" All manner of rushing was gone from Naruto's persona as he came to stand by Itachi and gaze up with a sort of pride at the place. Swinging a bag over his shoulder –for what Itachi could only assume was for his class –Naruto let out a satisfied breath of air. "Good place for the kids to get away."

"Hn." Itachi grunted in agreement. "So this is where you teach?"

Naruto began to nod, but stopped midway as the words sunk in. "Yikes." He pulled back his sleeve to reveal his bright green watch. "I'm five minutes late."

As he turned to make a dash for the door, Itachi caught his arm and pulled him back. "Wait a sec." It was now or never. Naruto was going to rush into that building, and who knows when they would have another chance meeting. Sometimes, fate could only go so far for one man. "Got a pen?"

Dumbly, Naruto nodded and slipped his hand into the side of his bag and held out a blue ballpoint a second later.

"Thanks." Itachi took the pen, closing in on Naruto's finger, and then moved his hand down to hold Naruto's wrist. Turning the blond's hand over, he quickly wrote something on Naruto's palm, and then released the hand a second later. Without letting Naruto look down, he shoved him in the direction of the building with a nod.

Naruto looked dazed as he stumbled forward –barely keeping his balance –and raised his hand to see what Itachi had written, but instead his eyes caught the hands on his watch once again. With a startled jump, he made a dash to the door; Itachi walking behind at a much slower pace.

As he reached the glass door, he saw Naruto turn at the end of the long hallway, covered in art work of all ages, into a room.

Itachi quickened his pace a little, determined to see which classroom was Naruto's. Otherwise, he'd have to look into every classroom until he found him, and that might get him kicked out for looking like some kind of pedophile or something. He still shuddered remembering that incident with his brother years ago. Some people just had sick minds. They were just brothers, for Pete's sake!

Pushing down all those horrid memories before he really got distracted, Itachi rounded the same corner to see Naruto turning into the sixth classroom on the right.

Itachi waited a moment; thankful for the absence of kids in the hallway as this wasn't during the school week. Naruto would probably take a minute to settle in and apologise for his tardiness. Itachi could imagine that this was a common occurrence. Naruto was no doubt the type to easily get lost on the road of life and forget where he was exactly. Itachi had met many people like that in his life. Most of them annoyed him to no end. But not Naruto.

Maybe that was why he had felt the need to write his phone number in his hand.

Itachi walked up to the classroom in which Naruto had disappeared into. Staying off to the side to avoid being seen and suspected of spying on young children, he looked over the heads of adolescents till his eyes caught blond head bent over at his desk at the front of the class.

Straightening and facing his class, Naruto gave the small group of five students a wide smile. Then, dropping all formalities, he dropped down in the small circular setup between two of his students. Pushing some paper and pens in front of him for everyone to use, he looked around and seemed to be asking a question of the group. Itachi couldn't tell what he said exactly, lip reading wasn't one of his fortes.

The students responded by getting out their books from their bags by their feet and opened up to the appropriate page. It looked like math, though Itachi couldn't be too sure. Ah, calculators were coming out too. Now he was positive. These kids didn't look old enough to be into Chemistry or Physics yet.

Naruto reached back and took out his own calculator. Soon, every head around the table was bent down into a thick text book.

Suddenly, Naruto raised his head –Itachi assumed at some sound or other –and looked around. One girl sheepishly ducked back into her bag and retrieved her cell phone –which seemed to be ringing some catchy tune.

Naruto held out his hand to take the phone, which the girl turned off and then handed over, but not before a young brunette directly right of Naruto caught sight of the palm of his hand. The girl quickly hid a giggle behind her hand, and bowed her head down as though examining a problem.

But Naruto had already seen the source of her amusement. As soon as the cell phone was in his hand, he swiftly retracted his hand and shoved it under the table, face bright red. Backing up his seat a little, he placed his hand in his lap and sneaked another glance while the rest of the table worked on a problem.

Itachi smirked, delighted with this little show. Naruto was transfixed by his own palm, tracing the hurriedly scrawled numbers with his finger from his other hand. His face was growing steadily redder and redder, when a student asked a question and all heads shot up to look at their tutor.

Naruto snapped back to attention. Hiding his hand under the table again, he shook his head with a reassuring smile and asked a question of his own. A red-headed boy flicked his hand up slightly from the table.

Naruto gave the boy his full attention, pulling another kid's book closer to him to look at the problem himself. As he read, Itachi could see the sides of Naruto's lips softening, his smile becoming a pleased and somewhat excited expression.

Itachi nodded to himself and decided that this would be a good time to leave Naruto to his thoughts and teachings.

Walking out the building he realized that his apartment was at least ten blocks away. He needed a ride back. Shoot. Naruto didn't say when he would be done. And even if he did, it would be a bit awkward, even for Itachi, to wait and ask him for a ride right after giving him his phone number. The next time they should meet should be at an appointed date. And Itachi was determined to stick to that plan. He needed a plan; a schedule; something to depend on.

Checking how much money he had brought with him for his run this morning –you never knew, and it was always good to be prepared, after all –he deduced that he had enough for half a cab ride. He would have to walk half the way regardless, so he might as well make a day of it.

Getting his bearings, Itachi set off in the direction of his apartment, straightening the blond's over-sized shirt. He would have to remind Naruto to bring his clothes when they met.

_**_______**_

It had taken him about an hour to make it back home, but Itachi was anything but angry. In fact, he actually enjoyed the time he was able to have alone with his thoughts while doing some mindless exercise like walking. He deduced that it would take Naruto until tomorrow afternoon to give him a call. And then once he did he wouldn't know what to say, so Itachi would have to jump right in and suggest that they go out that night. Not a date; he didn't want to scare the other off. Plus, he wasn't sure if he wanted to make it a date yet either. He was intrigued by this other man, but that didn't mean he was necessarily attracted, did it?

Pushing the shower scene from that morning away from his mind, Itachi pulled out his keys and unlocked the door to his apartment.

He really had just wanted to defy fate and see the blond again. Unlike the rest of human existence, as far as he was concerned, he liked being around Naruto. His presence was calming, and with him, Itachi found himself talking more than he had in years.

But reasons to see Naruto again and what he might mean to him aside, Itachi had to decide what to do once Naruto agreed to see him again. He had to admit, very little could trump a day out on the park. Though he liked living in the city, nothing beat the silence of nature.

But even if it was a date, Naruto didn't seem the type to be impressed by a nice dinner at a fancy restaurant. He was so down-to-Earth, yet quirky with a great sense of humour. Itachi sighed, brushing his bangs to the side, something was nagging at him about his thoughts, but he wasn't sure what that was yet. What should be bothering him? It wouldn't be a date.

_**_______**_

Naruto stuffed his pens in his bag as he watched the last student file out, waving with his other hand in farewell. The student winked at him as she disappeared through the door. Quirking an eyebrow, Naruto shook his head, wondering what had gotten into his student. Bringing that same hand down to scoop up his bag, he stopped midway as he caught a glimpse of his hand again.

Oh, that was why.

In bright orange pen was what he could only assume to be Itachi's phone number.

Smiling, he closed his fist around the strap of his bag and swung it over his shoulder. He would have to make sure to call his raven-haired stranger back. Yes, this little note on his hand made it official. Itachi was now his mysterious stranger.

Stepping outside, he felt the loss of artificial light to see that the sun had almost set. After three hours of tutouring it wasn't right to send the kids home in the semi-dark. But that wasn't his place to say. At least most of them didn't live to far from here. But still.

His car was cold to touch as Naruto pulled at the door handle. "Hey, Johnny," He greeted his pride and joy. Sliding behind the wheel, he felt his stomach drop.

He had left Itachi to find his way home.

"Argh!" He hit his head against the wheel, cursing at his own stupidity. That was so rude of him. What was he thinking? He wasn't! What had possessed him to completely forget that he had a guest that had needed to get home? He most likely lived in one of the really nice apartments across town. Had he had enough money for a cab? Oh God, he didn't make him walk, did he?

Naruto banged his head against the wheel again, making the horn blare loudly in the empty parking lot.

It would be pointless to look for him now. He would be home by now no matter his form of transportation. But still, he should call to make sure he was okay.

His orange cell phone glowed brightly on the dashboard as he stuck his keys into the ignition and turned the radio down. Quickly, he entered the number into his contacts, labeled Itachi under 'friend,' and put it under number three for speed dial.

Backing out of his space and pulling out onto the quiet road, he pressed number three, then speaker phone, and placed his phone back on the dashboard, listening to the dial tone. It rang four times before Itachi picked up.

"Hello?" Itachi's monotone voice broke over the sound of tires zooming over pavement.

_**_______**_

Itachi had been soaking a pot of noodles for dinner when his cell went off. Who could possibly be calling him this late at night?

He followed the ring, grabbing the sleek red cell from his jacket pocket hanging behind the door. It wasn't a number he recognized, but he didn't get telemarketing calls on this, so it must be someone he knew. Plus, it was his area code.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Itachi!" Itachi could practically hear the boy's smile.

He panicked.

Naruto was not supposed to call until tomorrow night. Itachi hadn't even been home for more than an hour. He hadn't even had time to think of what he would say when Naruto called, what they should do, or where they should go.

"Na-Naruto." Damn, he's never stuttered before. What the hell was wrong with him?

"Yep." His voice immediately dropped its gaiety. "Listen, I'm sorry I left you without a ride like that. Did you get back okay?" he asked anxiously, it sounded like he was holding his breath waiting for Itachi to assure that he was okay.

"I'm fine. I got home just over an hour ago."

"You walked home, didn't you?" Naruto demanded, no nonsense in his voice.

Itachi leaned back on the counter, turning down the heat as the water started to boil over the top. "I'm fine."

"I should have called a cab for you or something. I wasn't even thinking. After coming back, and I was so late, and then I totally forgot about getting you home, and then I came out to my car and wasn't even thinking about it till—"

"Naruto." Itachi cut through his ranting. "It's okay. I enjoyed the walk."

Why was he putting in the effort to assure this man that he was okay? Normally he let people stew in their own guilt and then enjoy seeing them squirm as they waited for his response. Sadistic, yes, but it amused him nonetheless. Yet with Naruto, he couldn't stand hearing the stress in his voice.

"Grr," Itachi could hear a bang of something being hit –either Naruto's hand or, quite possibly, his head. "You shouldn't have had to walk in the first place. I—"

"What were you going to do?" Itachi raised an eyebrow, though he knew Naruto could not see. "It wasn't like you could drive me home then, you were already late. And I wouldn't have accepted money for a cab. I barely know you, that would be rude."

"See, I said you were too polite," Naruto mumbled, his words coming out garbled over the line.

"Hn."

"Still. You gave me your cell number, so that means I have to be at least moving past stranger-level." Itachi could sense his triumphant grin, probably blinding whatever people were left on the road with his silly smile. "So does this mean I get to see you again?"

Itachi choked.

Right, he wanted to see this blond again. He was fighting serendipitous fate, as foolish as that sounded. Or so he thought, before Naruto called him a whole day earlier than he had expected. Damn. That was one point to the Fates, but Itachi did not bow down to Destiny.

"Yes." Itachi straightened up from the counter and started stirring the angle hair again. "I enjoyed our time today. I was wondering if you wanted to," he paused. What was the word again? "_Hang out_, sometime."

Naruto chuckled. "I don't know."

The spoon began to slip from Itachi's grasp.

"I kind of like our chance meetings. I feel like setting up a date and time is too formal."

The spoon had completely fallen into the pot, but Itachi didn't care. Who knew he'd have to contend with Naruto being on Fate's side?

"You're kidding, right?" Itachi's voice dropped in disbelief.

"Nope," he could hear Naruto smiling again. "But I guess we kind of cheated last time, so we can set up a round about time and place."

Itachi's head was already going in circles, but he wasn't going to let that show. He knew he should just give up and hang up, but something stayed his hand.

"Did you have anything to do tomorrow?" Naruto continued, completely oblivious of Itachi's exasperation or figuring that if he plugged on he would hook Itachi soon enough. "I know it's a Sunday, but you don't seem like you sleep in and watch cartoons all day on the couch."

Itachi chuckled, in spite of himself.

"But it's still a day of rest, so how 'bout the park after lunch?" Naruto's voice made it sound like this was the most casual thing in the world, deciding to meet at an unknown time just to see if their plans matched Fate's.

"_Any _time after lunch?" Itachi stayed calm, still wondering why he was even bothering to continue this conversation.

"Yep." The other chirped back happily. "I won't tell you when I'll get there, and you won't tell me. Nor will we tell each other how long we plan to stay waiting."

"What if I let slip when I plan to get there?" Once again, he didn't know why he was playing the blond's game, but Itachi always needed a plan and he felt the need to instill that ideology in Naruto as well.

"Then I just won't show up at all and we'll have to try again some other time without cheating," Naruto reprimanded. Itachi was obviously not playing the game correctly, but it seemed to be amusing Naruto all the same.

A loud dinging sound alerted Itachi that Naruto must be getting out of his car. "You called me right after you got out?" He sounded like he was teasing; but in reality, he was quite intrigued. Instead of a whole day, it hadn't even taken more than a minute for Naruto to use the new information and give him a call. He was just not meant to figure this man out, was he?

"Well of course." Naruto huffed; keys jingling in the background. "I had to make sure you got home alright. Especially after I left you high and dry like that." His voice dropped, and Itachi could tell the guilt was coming back in full force.

"It was no big deal." Itachi sighed; he really didn't want to be going around in circles with this. "You can make it up to me by telling me what time tomorrow." He suggested, going over to get another spoon to dig out the first, and a hand towel while he was at it. "After all, you got to orchestrate today, I believe it's my turn now."

"Nope," he said; all cheer and innocence back. "There's no turns. Though having your number now helps, I won't use it to help. So I guess I'll see you tomorrow. Or not." And with a following beep, he hung up.

Itachi pulled the phone from his ear and just stared down at it. Despite all rhyme and reasoning, he was at least ankle deep in this now. Not knee yet, but deep enough to know that he would be sitting in that park tomorrow from twelve to whenever Naruto decided to show.

He was intrigued by the man's odd behaviour. That must be it. He had never met someone like him before. That was all.

He nodded to himself as he retrieved the silver spoon from the bottom of the pot and replaced it with a wooden one. He would be eaten alone again tonight, but hopefully he would have some company tomorrow.

_**_______**_

~Finally, the fifth chapter is out! Hooray! Please review. Yell if you want. I know my updates are slow coming. ~


	6. Chapter 6

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto._

_Damn you, Imperial Mint! But thank you for Chapterising yet again. XD _

_Everyone please disregard both previous notes. Bea is quite delusional, but being the sly fox she is, was able to trick me yet again. Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. XD Anyway, I own Itachi, not her. He's besides me right now, chuckling lightly at our little game, while a mere shadow clone is next to Bea. But of course, not being a trained ninja yet, she doesn't know that. _

_And I, Bea, am humbly too tired to think of a witty reply. Enjoy the chapter, it's good!_

_Thanks! :D Okay, this is a long one. I hope you like it!_

_**Strange Meetings **_

_**Ch.6**_

It was eleven at night and Itachi was in bed, sleeping. Or rather, he was trying to. He usually dropped off as soon as his head hit the pillow and he didn't wake up till the alarm clock went off the next morning –same time every day, no matter if it was a Sunday or Tuesday.

But now, he couldn't seem to be able to even think about sleep. Instead, his mind was going over his conversation with Naruto from five hours ago. It was going to be Sunday in less than an hour and he was pretty sure he'd be waiting for Naruto at the park in a few hours time, no matter what he had been telling himself since he hung up the phone. Or, more correctly, since Naruto hung up on him.

After all, it wasn't like he really had any plans. Otherwise it would be just a day at the apartment of doing bills and cleaning things, which already shined with his reflection, a few times over. He might as well spend a few good hours at the park. Too many people had been telling him he needed to get some sun –for his whole life, in fact. So even if he brought a book and snack to sit on a bench for a few hours, he could at least tell himself he spent the day outside.

There.

Now that he had a plan in place he could function again. It didn't _really _matter to him whether Naruto came or not, just as long as he wasn't about to spend a day being idle –that was by far the worst possible sin.

Itachi mentally nodded to himself in agreement, his eyes dropping down as he felt the heaviness of sleep creeping up on him.

_Yes…the worst…sin…ever…_

_**_______**_

Book?

Itachi grabbed one from the small stack on the shelf by his bed. He had been meaning to get to this one for awhile now.

Check.

Water bottle?

Going over to the fridge, he neatly plucked out his already-filled thermos.

Check.

He wasn't about to spend money on a refreshment from a park vendor that would cost twice as much as it should when he had a perfectly good supply at home.

Apple?

Turning around, Itachi selected a particularly large green one out of the glass basket on the countertop.

Check.

An apple would suffice for the afternoon. He had just finished breakfast, after all. If he got really hungry he could just head home.

Itachi placed everything in his messenger bag. It was, he checked his watch, 11:45. It would take about ten minutes to get to the park if he walked at a normal pace, then another five to reach the center. No matter where Naruto entered from he would have to come to the middle eventually, that's just how the park was designed. So if Naruto happened to come to keep him company like yesterday then Itachi would welcome him to sit beside him.

Swinging the bag over his shoulder with an easy grace, Itachi walked out of the apartment, making sure to lock the door behind him and slide the key into a pocket in his bag with care. Taking swift steps he set off with a purpose. Constantly checking his watch every few minutes, he barely spared a glance to the people around him, and stared ahead determinedly with seemingly invisible blinders around his eyes, making it to the center of the park at exactly 12:00. Just as he had planned.

Depositing his bag on a suitable-looking bench, he sat down, crossed his legs, and retrieved the book from his bag to begin reading. Before he even got through with the first sentence his eyes were up and scanning the area around him.

No sign of blond hair.

His eyes returned to the book. First paragraph complete, though he had already forgotten what the book was supposed to be about. Wasn't there a dark man in the shadows on the cover? Why did it start with a slave boy describing his life's woes?

Not interested enough to care, his eyes made another swoop of the park only to turn up empty once again. He was pretty sure the clench in his gut and the quick rise of electric fire in his mind was that of disappointment which warranted him an idiom of misfortune, but he quickly reminded himself that he did not care if Naruto showed up or not. This was a day to himself to spend at the park, in the sun.

He looked up to see only a misty light shining through a clump of cumulus clouds. Well, he could still at least get some colour to his skin. He wasn't even really bothered by the sound of people coming and going around him –the random shouts and snaps of conversations of dog walkers, runners, or parents trying to control their kids. Nope. None of it bothered him in the least. Of course he could be at home in the quiet privacy of his apartment. But he didn't _want _to be. He _wanted _to be here, in the sun; reading his book; enjoying the day.

Setting his jaw defiantly, Itachi looked back down on his book and forced himself to finish the chapter without any more monologues or random checks for the blond.

And it worked.

For another three more chapters.

By that point he realised that the book was about the life of a deranged sociopath left alone in the world which lead to his infamous dark life. Now Itachi remembered why it had caught his interest. Every legend has a story behind it; the truth that many people fail to see or even look for. He, on the other hand, liked to find the source of all things. Even the simplest actions were a mystery. Why couldn't anyone ever bother to look beyond the obvious?

Well, he flipped a page, at least he could appreciate the subtle signs and actions that showed a person's character the best. That must be why he was attracted to Naruto's presence. He was so open, and yet a mystery at the same time. Like there was more to tell of his life, how he became the person he is today, and is still growing to be; if only Itachi could spend more time with him and figure out the exact combination code for the blond. The intrigue, the challenge, the attraction to mystery; all these things Itachi was sure were the reason he had convinced himself to sit on this bench all day until Naruto decided to show.

Pulling his mind away from his book once again, he chanced an upward glance to the park.

Still alone.

He tilted his head downward far enough so that his book and black bangs were all he could see –even in his periphery. He would read three more chapters before checking again. By this point the main character, who was no longer a boy but not yet man, was living on his own as a squatter after running away from his home and his country. Itachi liked that no typical abuse or melodramatics had been involved in the young man's decision to leave. He was just fed up with too many things in his life and needed to get away. Anyone who had cared to give the boy a second glance while he was growing up would have marked him with some kind of social disorder, which could have possibly avoided this whole mess. But instead, he had kept to himself, well enough for no one to realise. Itachi was sure that many people would find no interest in reading any further –nothing seemed to be really happening –but he had a feeling that the turning point was coming soon. And he couldn't wait. It was the small, meaningless, seemingly boring gestures that really lead up to the focal point of this kind of story.

Tightening his fingers around the pages, Itachi brought the book closer to his face as he let the next scene play out before him, listening with his mind's ear as the young man spoke with such apathy to a homeless boy on the street. Just as Itachi was reaching to turn the next page, a hand slammed down on his shoulder, making him jump a foot in the air and drop his book to his lap as his head whipped up to look at the intruder.

Naruto stood above him, an apologetic smile on his face as held up his hands in front of his face in an appeasing gesture. "Sorry, I didn't realise you were so absorbed," his voice held a somber note, though his eyes that shone with an amused merriment told a different story.

Itachi quickly recomposed himself and glanced down at his watch. It was a half past one. "I would say you're late, but I know you purposefully didn't specify a time," he said in his usual cool voice, hoping it would command respect and squash Naruto's temptation to tease him further.

Naruto shrugged and dropped down to sit beside Itachi, seemingly not at all effected by Itachi's cool and commanding presence –the light gleaming in his irises not even diminishing in the slightest. "I figured you would be sitting here all day until your butt got numb with no thought to the hours passing and nothing better to occupy your time waiting. And I felt a bit sorry," he said, nudging his toe in a circle on the grassy ground. "Especially after leaving you in the dust like that yesterday." He had the grace to bow his head, his whole face taking on a genuine solemn expression.

"I already told you to forget about it. I didn't mind the walk home," Itachi brushed it off with a wave of his hand, hoping it would put the smile back on the other man's face.

It worked.

Naruto looked up with a wry grin. "I know you're just saying that to make me feel better, which you shouldn't, but I brought something to make up for it." And before Itachi could rebut or inquire further, Naruto bent down and reached behind him to retrieve a huge wicker basket beside the bench.

"A picnic." He grinned happily and expectantly at Itachi. "You hungry?"

Itachi cocked his head to the side, a neutral nod, not sure if his breakfast from a couple hours ago had dissolved yet or not. Regardless, he was willing to sit with Naruto for as long a spell as he wanted.

"I'll take that as a maybe-later," Naruto tapped two fingers to the side of his nose. "Good thing none of the food will go bad." He reached back down and pushed the basket to the side. "I brought a soccer ball as well. Wanna play?" his face lit up with such excited anticipation that Itachi didn't think he would be able to refuse. It would be like taking away a cookie from a child, then trying to explain why dinner was more important than dessert.

Closing his eyes briefly in a mock-wonder at how he got into this situation with someone so juvenile, Itachi nodded his head and stood up.

"Excellent," Naruto cried as he clapped his hands together. "We can play over there," he pointed behind them to an open spot of sun-covered grass. "You're not too attached to the book to leave it for a moment?" Naruto cocked his head to the side, already half-standing and ready to push his hands away from the wooden seat.

Itachi quietly snorted. A moment? He didn't think this would last only a moment. And yes, he was rather put off about stopping the story where he was. But at the same time, he knew there was no way he was going to refuse Naruto's offer. He doubted the blond would actually let him anyway.

Shaking his head in the negative, Itachi stood and grabbed the ball from under Naruto's arm, leading the way. He just hoped their stuff would be safe left alone. Turning back around, Naruto almost ran into him in his haste to catch up.

"Should we," he gestured to his bag and Naruto's basket.

"Yeah," Naruto waved a hand behind him, then ran up and snatched the ball from Itachi's limp fingers. "No one'll take anything," he called over his shoulder as he ran into the middle of the field. "We're right here." Naruto stopped in the middle of the field and turned to face Itachi, a huge grin of anticipated fun on his face.

Itachi hastened his steps slightly, but otherwise took his leisure in meeting Naruto with an amused grin of his own.

"Is this your favourite sport?" he asked as he stood in front of the man.

"Hmm," Naruto squinted one eye shut and titled his head to the side, pulling at his chin with the hand not holding the ball. "I don't know if I have a _favourite_, per se. But it's top ten." His expression immediately lightened as he looked back up at Itachi and dropped the ball to the ground. "My goal's down this end," he pointed forward as he broke into a run, "yours it at the other end," he shouted, gaining speed with every word.

Not about to be bested, Itachi broke into a sprint and managed to swerve in front of Naruto, who was about to swung his foot back to deliver a powerful kick, and stole the ball with a sweep of his foot.

"Hey!" Naruto cried in a mixture of outrage and shock, quickly tearing after Itachi, little playfulness left in his eyes as he chased the taller man down the appointed field. Neck-in-neck, Naruto rammed into Itachi, making him lose his balance as well as his hold on the ball as he stumbled to the side. Naruto grinned in victory as he got the ball underfoot and started guiding the ball the other way.

But Itachi was not easily deterred. Catching himself before he fell, Itachi spun around and leaped back at Naruto. Catching him up, Itachi swung his foot to the side and in front of the ball, swiftly and affectively back kicking it away from both their grasps far off to the left, and back on the direction of his "goal".

"Damn," Naruto swore under his breath, gaze intent on the ball rolling away as he quickly changed course and went after it.

Itachi narrowed his eyes in a glare, mentally echoing Naruto's words. Not that he would say such profanities aloud though. This was just a healthy competition after all. Or so he told himself as he got the ball before Naruto and turned back to see a feral grin spread over Naruto's face.

He narrowed his own eyes, feeling a spark of competition finally awaken in him. This was going to be more than a simple kick and pass game. Naruto had already proven that. Itachi lifted the corners of his mouth with a smirk of his own and turned back around to run forward with the ball poised at the tip of his toe.

Naruto was on him in a flash. Itachi watched from the corner of his eye as Naruto bound closer to his side in one leap, drop to the ground, and roll in front of Itachi's legs, causing him to stop short and lose his balance, almost falling forward atop Naruto, but Naruto was too quick for that. Knocking the ball with his elbow, Naruto jumped back up on the other side of Itachi in what looked to be a backwards somersault. Springing up from the ground on his haunches to a full running stance in a matter of seconds, Naruto had the ball under foot once again.

Itachi blinked with shocked confusion, not entirely sure what had just happened. He had to admit, Naruto moved in fast and unpredictable ways. There was no way he had been expecting that. Was that even legal in an actual game? Apparently Naruto didn't care and Itachi didn't have time to worry as he quickly turned around and ran to catch the blond up.

"Come on, Itachi," Naruto called, "You gotta do better than that." He laughed gleefully as he got closer and closer to the large oak that Itachi assumed must be his selected goal.

End in sight, Naruto didn't seem to notice Itachi practically nipping at his heels until it was too late and the ball was once again kicked away from them both to the side –a neutral area at the moment.

Naruto let out an indistinguishable cry that was a cross between surprise and disappointment. But instead of going after the ball again, he turned around and tackled Itachi to the ground and then rolled over and jumped back up to chase the ball heading towards their lunch basket.

Itachi had felt the wind leave him as Naruto's hands pushed against his chest and then his back hit the ground. Now _that _was definitely illegal. It was like he was playing with a child who refused to lose and planned to do everything necessary to make sure of it. Before Itachi could even properly retaliate, the little blond had gone and was up and running again; back in the game without a single glance at Itachi. Itachi blinked. Blinked again, and turned his head to see Naruto back on his course towards his goal.

Just as Itachi brought his hands behind his back and pushed himself up, Naruto kicked the ball violently past the tree and jumped up in excitement. Turning around, Itachi could see the full face-splitting grin aimed at him as Naruto shouted in victory.

"One for Naruto!" He pumped his fist in the air. "Alright!" With one more glance at Itachi, who was slowly narrowing his eyes at him, Naruto promptly chased after the still rolling ball to bring it back into the playing field.

When Naruto came back into the middle Itachi was ready and waiting for him.

"That was playing dirty, Naruto," Itachi said with a certain sibilant quality to his words. "If _that's _how it's going to be…" he trailed off, waiting for Naruto to confirm.

"Oh yeah," Naruto said, a feral grin around his words, "_that's _how it's gonna be. Think you can take it?" he cocked an eyebrow in a mocking taunt.

Itachi growled from deep in his throat. "Oh, I can take it alright." And without another word, he stuck out his foot and brought the ball towards him with the back of his heel. Before Naruto realised it was even gone, Itachi turned around and raced back to _his_ goal, determined to even the score.

He had not played ball like this since Sasuke and he were young boys still in school. Before age, grade, and the need to create a separate reputation from your older brother mattered to his younger brother. Itachi almost envisioned Sasuke ripping down the field and felt a smile tug at his mouth before the vision shifted and blond hair shone in the sun, pulling Itachi's mind back in the game again.

They managed to make it back and forth across the field at least twenty more times, with Itachi scoring three goals to Naruto's five –almost all of which were obtained through cheating on the blond's part –before Naruto collapsed atop Itachi again. But this time, he didn't get up.

Itachi blinked down at him, amusement more than shock spotting across his face as Naruto breathed heavily into his neck. "Does this mean the game is over?" he asked in a neutral voice.

A derisive guttural noise came forth in response before Naruto rolled off, sprawled himself across the grass –arms and legs spread eagle –and heaved a tired sigh. The ball was now somewhere halfway across the lawn, but neither of them cared to go get it anymore. Apparently they were finally calling it quits after an hour. Not that Itachi should be surprised by Naruto's stamina. He was a trainer at a gym, a runner, and seemed to have endless amounts of energy each time Itachi saw him. This would be their fourth meeting, but Itachi had a feeling that Naruto was like this all the time. If he could act peppy and cheerful at one o'clock in the morning while getting instant ramen at a gas station, then why not all day long?

Itachi turned his head to the side towards Naruto, the object of his amused thoughts. His eyelids began to droop as he let his eyes wander up the blond's body, which was moving with every quick breath he took. His shorts were riding up his thighs, a garish green colour that Itachi wouldn't be caught dead in, and his bright orange shirt hitched up as well to show off his toned stomach. Fingers splayed against his lower abs, Naruto was absentmindedly rubbing circles at a slightly faded tattoo around his navel.

"When did you get that?" Itachi nodded to Naruto's stomach, the words out of his mouth before he even realised he had been checking the other male out. For the second time! If he could blush, his face would be aflame. But as it were, Uchiha blood did not go where it wasn't wanted and Itachi managed to take a deep breath and avert his gaze to the stringy clouds and birds passing by up in the sky. Praying that Naruto had not heard him, he looked to the left, avoiding the sun which was further up in his line of sight, as well as refusing to look at Naruto all together.

"Huh?" Naruto rolled his head to the side to glance at Itachi's profile. "My tattoo?"

"Hn," Itachi grunted in reply, knowing he was already caught and there was no backing out of it. At least the blond hadn't accused him of looking so far. Not that he was reallylooking-looking. Not like _that_ anyway. His eyes were tired and were just rising up without his consent. Nothing more, nothing less.

"This," Naruto looked down at his stomach with an indifferent expression on his face, completely oblivious to Itachi's inner-battle, "I got this when I was seven." He frowned then, his finger tracing the swirl design with practiced care.

"Seven is a young age to get a tattoo," Itachi said skeptically, he had already put his foot in his mouth, why not at least satisfy some of his curiosity. "You didn't do it alone, I'm guessing?" That shouldn't be legal either, even with a guardian present. Right?

"Well," Naruto shrugged, keeping his eyes on his stomach. "I didn't exactly get it at a tattoo parlor, if you know what I mean."

Itachi narrowed his eyes, "No, I don't. What were you doing getting a tattoo at seven?" he asked, not bothering to hide his suspicion. Was he some kind of early teenage rebel? At seven years old? What was he involved in to get a tattoo that young?

Naruto sighed and looked away, "I didn't decide to get it myself. It was kind of forced on me." Naruto's fingers spasmed, involuntarily pushing at the soft skin.

"Forced on you?" Itachi asked, his eyes narrowing even further. He didn't like the direction this was going. And he was starting to get angry and whoever it was that would force Naruto to do anything. "What do you mean?" his words were harsh and cutting, but Naruto didn't seem to notice. The blue eyes had wandered up to the sky and were drawn back into a memory.

"My mother wasn't exactly what you'd call sane," he finally said, following his words by swishing his tongue from side to side in front of his teeth. "My dad died a few days before I was born –a stray bullet from his work in the field as a cop. And my mom had problems coping. It was a wonderful she had a successful child birth. The doctors were sure the stress and mental instability would kill her while trying to have me. But she survived." Naruto shrugged like it wasn't his mother's life, but an impartial story he found slightly interesting. "And she raised me until the state finally labeled her an unfit parent and she killed herself shortly after they took me away. It was right after I got this from her." He brushed his hands against the tattoo. "She was a wonderful artist," he said as an afterthought. "I suppose I get some of my talent from her." He paused, eyes going back down to the black ink that moved up and down with each breath he took. "But she just didn't know how to channel that talent into something _productive_," he rolled out of his mouth as though it was the safest word he could use without insulting her memory.

Itachi's face remained impassive, but his insides were knotted in a rage, sadness, and pity that he couldn't understand, but made him feel sick to his stomach. "I'm sorry," he said; what else was there to say?

Naruto smiled in shock, finally turning to look at Itachi. "Why? It's not your fault."

Itachi shook his head. "I'm sorry you had to go through that," he clarified.

Naruto's smile faltered for a moment, but he hitched it right back into place a second later. "It wasn't that bad," he said with a shrug. "Besides, I met some great people who took care of me as a result."

Itachi allowed a small smile to paint his face in return. "Did a family adopt you?"

Naruto shook his head. "An older couple actually. They bickered like no tomorrow, but you could tell they really loved each other. And they took me in like I was there son. I would never pin them as the type who wanted kids, especially that late in life. But apparently, Jiraiya, my adopted grandfather as I like to think of him, knew my father and hadn't even known he had a son. He used to be my dad's mentor when he was younger and hadn't kept in contact." An amused smile surfaced as Naruto talked about his grandfather. "I was really lucky to have them."

"It would seem so." Itachi hesitated. He wanted to ask if the couple were still with them, but wasn't sure how. He was never one to get into deep conversations like this. Nor had he ever been truly interested in someone else's life. "Do you still visit them often?" Itachi mentally cringed. He hoped it didn't sound as stupid to Naruto as it did to him.

"Tsunade-baba, yeah. But Jiraiya-jii passed away a few years ago." Naruto said. "I was going to stay with Tsunade after I got out of school, but she insisted I go out on my own and find my place in the world. I make sure to see her every other weekend. Despite what she says, I know she gets lonely without the old man to bicker with."

Itachi nodded in sympathy, "So does that mean you'll visit her next weekend?"

"Yep," Naruto nodded happily, bright grin back in place just as Itachi had planned. "Sorry I won't be here to run with you or anything."

Itachi shrugged. He hadn't known this was going to become a routine, a planned schedule, the very thing Naruto seemed to abhor.

As Itachi brooded over this new piece of the puzzle he felt Naruto's fingers brush against his the skin exposed on his hip, causing a shiver to run up Itachi's spine. He caught his breath as Naruto's hand passed his clothes and continued to stretch up and over his head. It was like he could still feel the fingers, that one place on his hip just above his jeans had become a hot spot that was burning.

He forced himself to let go of his breath, telling himself that the warm contact had just been a shock to his skin against the breezy wind that had been whispering by since they started the game. Change in temperature can do that to you, he assured himself as he closed his eyes and listened to the grass blowing and his and Naruto's even breathing.

"Hey!" Naruto sat up suddenly, finger in air and excitement flooding through his skin. "I know!" a smile spread, eerily wide, as he looked at Itachi expectantly.

"What is it?" Itachi asked, after a moment had passed and he realised Naruto was waiting for him to show some kind of interest.

"If you get out of work by five on Friday and meet me at my apartment before I leave, then you can come with me," he said with a matter-of-fact enthusiasm. "Tsunade would love to meet you."

Itachi raised an eyebrow, wondering if the blond was all there or missing a few screws. He had gone with him when Naruto wanted to take him home and show him something –he was not going to dissect that statement any further for his own sanity –and had actually enjoyed himself. But that was only one day and he still didn't know what he thought of Naruto. A friend? He didn't have too many of those. They were too troublesome. And he had only known Naruto for a few days, and until yesterday he was just a stranger whom he happened to run into at random and odd moments. But now Naruto was inviting him over his family house like he had known Itachi for years. Well, maybe not years, but longer than his invitation warranted.

"Why?" Itachi asked.

Naruto's own eyebrows raised up surprised at the question. "Why not?" he answered in such a simple, matter-of-fact voice, that Itachi almost thought he was making fun of him. But no, that seemed to be Naruto's genuinely confused, albeit confident, answer.

Itachi would have knocked his hand to his forehead if not for the innate desire to stay calm and composed at all times. "We haven't known each other for long Naruto, I don't think it appropriate that I go on a road trip with you and visit your family."

"Exactly!" Naruto smiled as though Itachi had said the most obvious thing that proved his point. But what that was exactly Itachi didn't know.

"What better way to get to know each other than a road trip? It's only an hour or so from the city and we'll be back by Sunday evening. You're not doing anything next weekend, are you?"

"No, but –"

"Perfect," he said, not letting Itachi protest any further. "It'll be fun. And Tsunade-baba will love how quiet you are. She's always complaining that I'm too loud for my own good. Stupid old lady," he grumbled with affection.

"I'm not family."

"But you're a friend," Naruto interjected. "And that's as good as family as far as I'm concerned."

Itachi's jaw dropped, his bottom lip just touching his front teeth. He had not been expecting _that_ either. So Naruto considered him a friend. Even though this was only their second official "outing", he supposed that's what he could call it, and already he was up to friend status.

Well, if he was completely honest with himself…ever since yesterday up in the woods, where they just hung out and chatted, he had thought of Naruto as a friend too. But the friendship was still tentative. At this point he just enjoyed the other man's company. _Nothing _more, he told himself firmly. But that didn't mean he wanted to go on a car trip with the man and visit his only living relative.

"I'm still not sure if this is such a good idea," he said, shutting his jaw with a snap.

"Why not?" Naruto repeated in a more somber tone, looking down at Itachi in perplexity with a small frown beginning to form a crease between his eyes.

"I –" Itachi formed his lips to say the next words, but he found he didn't know what he wanted to say. He really didn't have another reason, at least not one that Naruto hadn't shot down with his stubborn naivety already. "Hn," he finally consented in defeat.

"That sounds like a yes to me," Naruto cheered, pumping his fist in the air. "So be at my apartment by six this Friday. No later. Can you pull it off?"

Itachi snorted lightly, "Of course I can. I have Friday's off anyway."

"Excellent. That'll work out great." Naruto beamed. "I would offer to do something beforehand, but I have to meet a client about their new record."

Itachi shook his head in amazement. Not that he would admit it, but he still didn't understand how it had gotten this far. And with his own consent too.

A low grumbling sound rumbled nearby, making Itachi start, looking around for the source of the noise.

Naruto let loose a shaky chuckle and patted his stomach.

"Time to eat," he declared, jumping up to his feet. Already onto the next thing, now that he had secured that Itachi would be spending the next weekend with him as well. Hands on his hips, he swiveled left and right, and then bent his head back as far as it could go. He stayed looking upside down at Itachi for a moment, before straightening up and turning to face the man still on the grass and offer his hand.

Itachi stared at the hand as though not sure what he was expected to do with it. It was like his mind had suddenly switched to a slower gear and he was over-working himself to catch up.

"You know I made some excellent cheese, peanut butter and jelly, and tuna fish sandwiches, all waiting to be devoured." Naruto smiled, leaning down a bit further so his hand was practically in Itachi's face.

"All together?" Did he really put cheese, peanut butter, jelly, and tuna fish all in one sandwich? It wouldn't surprise him really; this man was incredibly unpredictable after all.

A bright and loud laughter burst forward, which took the offered hand away with it. Wiping an imaginary tear from his eye, Naruto shook his head and reached out his hand again. "Of course not," a sudden chuckle escaped again; "unless you want them all into one?" he raised an eyebrow questioningly.

Itachi shook his head in the negative and finally clasped the proffered hand with his own. "Plain tuna is fine with me," he mumbled as he allowed Naruto to pull him up.

"Good," Naruto pulled him in the right direction before letting go of his hand and running ahead to their bench.

Feeling a sigh shudder through his body at the loss of contact, Itachi forcefully turned his eyes to the sun sure it must have just been covered by a cloud to cause such an oddly intense sensation. The weather had to be the cause again. What else?

But no, the sun was still shining high and bright as it had been all day.

Closing his eyes and refusing to think about it any further, Itachi looked back towards Naruto, who was already hauling his basket and Itachi's bag back towards Itachi. A warm feeling clenched his stomach with something akin to delight, but he quickly brushed that off as well. He must be really hungry after all that playing, that's all. Plus, he truly did enjoy Naruto's company; he hadn't realised since he left his parent's home just how good it felt to share a meal with someone. Only those who lived alone could know what he was talking about, and he bet Naruto could relate. The blond probably enjoyed having someone to hang out with just as much as Itachi, though Itachi wouldn't admit it. Maybe next weekend would be fun. It wasn't like he had a choice anyway. He had already signed his soul away the moment Naruto showed up this afternoon.

"I thought I'd bring lunch to you since you didn't seem too keen to move." Naruto's voice, suddenly so close, plucked Itachi's eyes and mind back into reality with a violent pull. "Hey. Itachi." Naruto's' hand began to wave frantically in front of his face. "You awake up there or in La-la Land?"

Itachi jerked his head out of harm's way and caught Naruto's wrist to stop all movement as he gave him a look like he thought the man was crazy.

"What?" Naruto asked defensively, dropping the basket with his other hand and clasping Itachi's wrist that was holding his own. "You've never heard of La-la Land before? Spacing out? Day dreaming?" He shook his head with a dumb grin on his face like a jester waiting for a laugh. "Any of that ring a bell?"

Itachi dropped his wrist and scoffed, "I know what you're talking about, I just never heard anyone other than children or mothers use it before," he said as he sat back down on the ground in one fluid motion. However, with Naruto's hand still clasped around his wrist, the blond got pulled down with him, knocking head-first into his chest as Itachi landed on his butt with a hard thump. All grace gone with the extra weight added to his person, leading them to a familiar position. Naruto sprawled over Itachi, chests pressed together and Naruto breathing on his neck. Though this time, Naruto did not just roll off, his hand still holding tight to Itachi's wrist.

They continued to lie like that for a few more seconds, where the sound of their breathing seemed magnified along with the beating of Itachi's heart. Stealing himself, Itachi drew his eyes downward to the mop of blond hair tickling his chin and spoke in as clear a voice as possible with hair blowing into his mouth, "You know you can let go any time."

"Eh," Naruto released Itachi's wrist and placed his hands on either side of Itachi's chest. "Heh, heh. Yeah. Sorry about that." He lifted himself up to a kneeling position and looked down at Itachi's face. "You caught me by surprise," he said, picking up one dirty hand from the ground to scratch the back of his head.

Itachi gently reached up and took the hand away, brushing away the dirt and leaves that had already been scrubbed into blond locks. "That's a bad habit," he admonished, bringing his hand down to Naruto's chest and pushing him away so he could sit up.

Naruto grinned with a tinge of embarrassment as he leaned back, resting on his haunches to give Itachi room to sit up comfortably. "Yeah, I know," he reached up again, assumingly subconsciously, to scratch his head again, but Itachi leaned over and beat him to the chase by swatting his hand away.

"Lunch?" Itachi asked, gesturing to the still unopened basket calling like beacon to their empty stomachs.

"Yeah," Naruto cried, lunging at the basket with a hungry, animalistic gleam in his eyes. "I'm starving," he declared, taking out a blanket from the top to spread on the grass and then laying out all the food and drinks on top.

"Really," Itachi smirked, "I never would have guessed," he said as he reached for an aluminum foil wrapped sandwich labeled 'Tuna'.

It wasn't very fancy he thought as he unwrapped the sandwich and took a bite. But he didn't really care.

"Hn." Itachi nodded at the sandwich. "This is very good."

Naruto laughed in appreciation as he dug out his own wrapped peanut butter and jelly. "Thanks, it took me hours to make," he drawled with pleasant sarcasm.

Itachi rolled his eyes and settled with taking another bite.

"Water, soda, or juice?" Naruto pointed to a small cooler filled with drinks.

"Water, thanks." Itachi accepted the bottle with a gracious nod and settled back on his hands as he continued to eat his lunch.

If it was going to be anything like this, Itachi imagined that he could enjoy next weekend. He would make sure to make it worth his time. Plus, he had to admit that he was at least a little intrigued in meeting the woman who had raised Naruto from such a traumatic childhood into the little bubble of sunshine he was today. A little piece of the puzzle that is Naruto had been formed, but Itachi knew there was still so much to learn. And if Naruto was willing to be his friend, then he would reciprocate that effort. It was only fair.

_**_______**_

_Wow. That was long. That is partially thanks to Twisted Vixen for reading, reviewing, and getting my butt into action. So, thank you! ^^ _

_Please review and share your thoughts with me. ___


	7. Chapter 7

_Christmas vacation!!!! Time for me to unwind, not think about school, and do what I want for these three weeks: write! So the next chapter is finally here for you all. _

_Merry Christmas! If a little belatedly so, ah well._

_This particular chapter is dedicated to the lovely __Hic Iacet Mori. She's a true fan and has been patiently waiting for this. __ ;) I'll try to get the next chapter revised quickly as well. _

_So please enjoy and let me know what you think._

_**Strange Meetings **_

_**Ch.7**_

Itachi had not been on a road trip in years. Not since his family trips to their cottage up north where Sasuke tended to throw tantrums in the back seat, like any four year old who was cooped up in a car for too long would do. Now, years later and a few family members missing, he was going again with a stranger…a friend…a newfound companion?

Itachi drummed his fingers against his desk at work; it had been surprisingly quiet lately and he was bored. In fact, this job had gone way past the line of boredom months ago, so why was he still here? The other jobs that he had mentioned to Naruto the other day had only lasted months; once he had gotten bored or had seen all there was to see he left. He leaned back in his chair and traced the random patterns on the tiled ceiling. He was done with this job that was for sure. So what should he look into next? Maybe Accounting? Meh. He did have his degree in business; had always been good with numbers. Maybe some place where he was in charge for once. Like Naruto as a teacher. Who was his boss, anyway? Maybe Naruto could help him brainstorm in the car ride up this Friday.

"Itachi," Kisame, his co-worker, greeted as he came over, interrupting Itachi in his thoughts. "I heard you went to the gym last weekend."

He was trying to make conversation. Again. Not that Itachi didn't appreciate the sentiment, he was actually sort of fond of the bluish-grey-complexioned man in his own annoyingly quirky way, but quite frankly he just wasn't in the mood to _chat._

"Yes." News must travel pretty fast. Who would have even have recognised him in the short time he was there?

"Ha! Dei owes me fifteen bucks!" Kisame cheered; quickly quelling his chuckle with one glare from Itachi. "Well, anyway, I was wondering if you wanted to join us this Saturday." He shrugged his shoulders as if it didn't bother him either way, but Itachi knew otherwise. Kisame –incredulously enough- considered Itachi a friend and probably _did _want the raven to come with their little group to work out over the weekend. Itachi had never really understood the concept of male-bonding, but he supposed that is what one would call this.

"I'm afraid I already have plans for this weekend." Itachi folded his hands on his lap, and looked up at Kisame, wondering if he was going to attempt to continue the conversation after having gotten his answer.

"Really?" Kisame raised an eyebrow at that. "Do you usually have plans over the weekend?" he asked disbelievingly.

Itachi wasn't sure whether he should be insulted or take it as a joke. In any case, he never took an insult or a joke, so why start now?

"No."

Kisame nodded his head forward, eyes bugged out slightly and eyebrows raised once again, miming for Itachi to go on. "Yes?"

Itachi sighed; this was taking longer than he wished. "I'm going out of town for the weekend."

"Why?" Kisame asked, completely unabashed. He either didn't see that Itachi didn't want to continue this conversation or just didn't care.

"Because I was invited."

"By who?"

"Naruto-san." Simple as that. Just say the man's name, no personal attachments.

"The guy who works at the gym," Kisame quickly shook his head. That was impossible. "That's the only Naruto I know."

"Yes," Itachi nodded, "he works at the gym on weekends."

"Oh." Kisame's eyes glazed over for a second as he stared blankly at Itachi. "Oh," he repeated with more emphasis, as though he was finally beginning to believe what Itachi had said. "_Oh,_" he said for the third time, drawing out the word with more innuendo than needed. "I _see._ When'd you two meet?"

Itachi face vaulted, he was not about to have this conversation. "It's not what you think."

"Hm," Kisame grunted ambiguously, "I don't know what you think I'm thinking, I just asked when did you guys meet. And where?"

"A couple weeks ago at a convenience store, not that it matters to you." Itachi looked over Kisame's shoulder to the clock on the wall; five more hours.

"And you're going with him where exactly this weekend?" Kisame leaned his crossed arms on the office wall separating them. "A little soon to be meeting the family already, don't you think?"

"Naruto just wanted some company on the ride up to his visit his parent."

Kisame's mouth opened in an 'ah' before his smile threatened to take over his whole face and he quickly doubled-over behind the screen, high, screechy peals of erratic laughter rising up.

"No," Kisame shook his head in a mix between disbelief and amusement as he resurfaced. "You're not serious. You're actually going to meet the family."

Itachi sent his best glare at the fishy man, but unfortunately the man was still too busy wiping tears out of his eyes to notice. "Are you quite finished?"

Kisame took a deep breath, holding up a finger to ask for a minute, before breaking down into peals of laughter again and hiding behind the screen.

"Hey Kisame, what's so funny?" Another familiar voice joined the conversation. Itachi didn't even have to look up to know that his "favourite" blond had decided to grace them with his presents.

"Nothing Deidara," Itachi spoke coldly, hoping the idiot would get the clue and leave. He did not need the whole office in a stupid uproar.

"Good thing I wasn't asking you, Itachi-_sempai,_" the man bit back scathingly. "I was talking to Kisame."

Taking gasping breaths, Kisame re-righted himself and leaned heavily on the small grey wall yet again. Turning to Deidara, he whispered conspiringly, "Itachi's got himself a boyfriend."

"Oh," an evil grin immediately alighted on Deidara's face as he turned to Itachi; the turning gears clearly visible behind his delighted stare. Christmas had just come early. "And who is this new little boy toy, Itachi-_sempai_?"

"Naruto is not a _boy toy,_ Deidara," he hissed in concealed rage as he stood up from his chair to look down at the blond, "nor is he my boyfriend. So you can both," he turned his glare to Kisame as well, "_leave now_."

Kisame smirked, barely hiding a snort behind his dry grey hand. "If you say so Itachi. Enjoy the weekend."

Before Itachi could retaliate, Kisame pulled on Deidara's collar, crowing about how the blond owed him fifteen bucks, and tugged his companion away. Looking back, while Deidara whined in defeat, Kisame winked at Itachi with a sly grin.

Itachi's eyes hardened as he sat down, ignoring the two as they walked away. He would enjoy himself this weekend. Without their childish behaviour annoying him.

"Have fun on your date!" Deidara's voice echoed back as the pair swiftly disappeared around the corner.

Itachi watched the wall hiding them with disdain; those nosy little cretins!

Kids were definitely _not _a job he would ever consider. Not after dealing with these big kids at this job all day long. How Naruto did it was beyond him.

He was good with his hands. Maybe a mechanic. He wouldn't have to deal with people too much; cars and trucks and bikes all day long. Machines didn't tease or poke fun at things that weren't their business. And honestly, where did those two even come up with the idea that Naruto was his boyfriend? That was just insane. They were barely friends –he was willing to at least come to accept that term now –but boyfriend was going to a completely new and way out of reach level that he didn't even want to think about right now. Not that he ever would in the future.

He looked at the clock again. Still five hours. Hadn't any time passed?

Itachi leaned back in his chair and began drumming his fingers on the desktop again when the phone rang.

"911. What's your emergency?"

It really was the perfect job for him, in a sense. He had never bothered himself before with other people's problems. So it only made sense that he had a calm voice and disposition when listening to frantic people crying over car accidents, old people not breathing anymore, or little children swallowing things that should never have been in their reach in the first place. Still, he didn't enjoy this in the least. Doing good deeds, as previously implied, did nothing for him. It was just a job. And right now he needed to give his attention to this one.

"_Hello? Hello?"_

"Yes miss, I'm here. What's your situation?" Itachi closed his eyes and readied his fingers to push the correct button on the panel beside him to call for an ambulance and relay the destination to them. "Can you tell me what's wrong," he repeated when he could only here erratic breathing in his ear.

"_Umm. Um. Ehh. I," _Itachi heardmore hard breathing, in and out, in and out,_ "I just came home and I –Rita was on the bathroom floor and I picked her up, ready to yell at –and oh my God, how horrible. She was just sitting slumped over in the chair. I think. I don't know. She's just my next-door neighbour; if I knew she was on some sort of medication I –"_

"Have you checked her pulse?"

"_Oh God, no. Do I have to?" _

"Yes, miss. And while you're doing that please tell me your address so we can send an ambulance over right away." Itachi tapped his finger over the button to call for an ambulance and then the button to switch the call over so that they could hear the address and the computer could place it into its navigating system.

"_My God," _the breathingabruptly stopped, _"there's no pulse." _

"Okay, now back away and tell me your address. Can you do that?"

Now it sounded like the lady was hyperventilating. Itachi wasn't in the mood for this. The old babysitter was obviously dead. He didn't have to ask how long if the child, or so he assumed all this, was already getting into something she shouldn't.

"You're address, please."

"_Oh. My address? I…right!" _

Itachi breathed a sigh of relief as she slightly came to and relayed her address to the computer.

"Thank you," he said as soon as she finished and was beginning to hyperventilate again. "Please stay calm and we'll be with you shortly."

"_Right. Thank –"_

Itachi hung up.

"Ooh, you're not following protocol." An annoyingly familiar whiny voice made its presence known the moment Itachi sat back.

"Get a life, Deidara," Itachi quipped. He wanted today to be over so then he would only have two more days till he saw Naruto again and got out of the city.

But no such luck.

The day dragged on with five more such phone calls that lasted forever and yet didn't last long enough to pass the time. By the time he got home at six, thankful that he only took the nightshifts every other Friday and some weekdays, which were not today, he was conked out. The worst part was that it wasn't like he had done any physical or strenuous activity, unless you count picking up the phone. And yet boredom and dissatisfaction could somehow make him feel like he had just run a marathon. And lost. And to top it all off, he noted a message on his answering machine as soon as he walked in the door.

Don't ask why, but he hated, dreaded voice mails. If anyone really need to get to him to tell him something dire they texted him or called him on his cell phone. Why he still had a home phone was a mystery to many people, but that was why he hated getting voice mails so much. The only people who knew his home phone number were his father, his brother, his Aunt Hideko, and some obscure relatives who called once in awhile to check up on him – usually the uncles or heads of the families, as that was part of Japanese tradition. But his relatives would always make those calls at night right after work so Itachi was most likely to be home. And as the head male cousin of the line he was required to make these calls too to each family at least once a month –something Sasuke was inexplicably envious of even to this day; how stupid. It wasn't like he particularly enjoyed making these calls, but he knew his duty to his family and never complained, unlike a certain younger brother who even after reaching the age of twenty-two, still acted like a rebellious teenager every so often. Itachi supposed it was his fault for pampering the boy, as any caring big brother would be prone to do.

But other than those obligatory calls and a few updates from his aunt, rarely his father or Sasuke, he never got calls from that phone, let alone voice mails. And if he did, nine times out of ten it was bad news. So dreading the worst, Itachi pushed the message button and waited for the annoying beep to go off. And sure enough…

_Beep_

"_Hi, Itachi, it's your aunt Hideko. And I have your father here too." _

"_Hn. Evening son." _

"_I haven't seen you in forever, and I know you're such a busy man, but I think it's about time you paid a visit. You haven't even seen the new house yet since we moved in last year. And now with this sickness," _a small coughing fit interrupted his aunt's rambling, causing Itachi to vault forward as though he could jump up and help her in that instance. _"Well," _she continued as soon as she had recovered and had cleared her throat daintily, _"it's nothing really, but I would really love to see you, and your brother promised to come up as well, fitting us into his busy schedule of running the company and all. So no excuses, I plan to see you this weekend. It's only a two hour drive or so and you're staying the night, so make to pack an extra pair of underwear and such –we didn't bring your clothes over from the old house, though you'll still have your own bedroom here. And you can leave Sunday morning if you need to be at work early on Monday. But I want you for this _one_ weekend. One weekend Itachi, I don't think that's too much to ask, do you?" _

Itachi didn't have much of a choice to answer, yet he nodded wearily all the same, the tips of his fingers buried in his crown as he covered his face with his hands.

"_So, I think I'm running out of time –"_

_Beep_

Itachi looked out from between his fingers and blinked. Thank God his aunt was such a fast talker or he doubted she would have even got all that in in one message. All in all, she didn't seem too sick. But really it was a Catch 22. His aunt was rarely sick, but when she was she tended to downplay everything even if she was barely able to make breakfast in the morning before returning back to bed for the day.

At the same time, she also knew how to reel the Uchiha men in and give them a major guilt trip while barely appearing to be trying. Either way, if she was actually sick or not, Itachi had to go to her or he would never here the end of it.

So much for his weekend with Naruto.

Digging out his aunt and father's new address, as they had moved a few years ago after Sasuke had successfully taken over the company and Itachi was settled back in the city, Itachi prepared himself to call his aunt and let her know he would be coming. He would have to call Naruto afterwards to cancel.

And he really did owe it to his aunt to visit her, especially after two years of being too busy to visit her. She had been a key part of his, his brother's, and father's life after Mikoto had died. As his father's sister and his mother's best friend she had felt it was her obligation to take care of them. Sasuke was only 17, Itachi had just graduated from university, and their father had been slowly falling into depression since he had learned his wife was sick. After the funeral Itachi had returned to his place in the city for a few days to wrap things up before moving back home and taking care of Sasuke while he finished his schooling–his father having already retreated into his office for good. When he came back home less than a week later, he found his aunt already moved in.

And what was more, she performed the impossible. In a year she had their father back in public and more self-sufficient than he had been in years since he had first heard the diagnosis. By the time Sasuke was entering university he was speaking in full sentences again and had started putting the art of respect for others into use again. Itachi himself began to feel more comfortable with his family once again, welcoming his aunt into the fold without a second thought before he had even realised it. Not that she had replaced their mother by any means, but instead had helped pick up the pieces Mikoto's departure had left behind. She was, in essence, exactly what they needed.

His aunt's and father's number –as she refused to let his father live alone, in case he fell back into his depression–was numeral one on his speed dial. Before it had finished its first ring, the line picked up.

"_Itachi!" _

"Evening Aunt Hideko."

"_Oh, it's so good to hear your voice. How are you doing?"_

"I'm fine, how are you?" He asked with concern, reaching behind him to release his hair from its elastic hold. Shaking his hair out and running a hand through it with impatience, he held his breath for an answer. As much as he did not want to go visit and be smothered like a two year old, he was worried about his aunt's health. He hoped her sickness really was just a ploy to get him and Sasuke to visit her.

"_Oh, I'm fine; just a little sick, nothing to worry about." _

Itachi snorted silently. She had to be kidding. All they ever did was worry about and care for her, seeing as she asked for so little in return for caring for three silent and brooding Uchiha alpha males after tragedy struck. It would have been enough to make anyone go insane, and yet she was always there and never left their sides. Itachi knew it was the least he could do to pay a small visit.

"Has father been taking care of you?" He knew it was a stupid question. His aunt rarely let anyone take care of her. She was the care giver. Itachi could clearly remember him and his father physically pushing her down into bed and forcing her to stay while Sasuke went to make soup. And the woman was surprisingly strong, being a ballerina years ago –lean, yet deceptively strong; not nearly as easy to break as they look –so keeping her in bed all day was no easy task. "Never mind. Have you been _letting _father take care of you."

"_Oh, Itachi you know me." _

He winced, he did know her.

"_It's no trouble at all. I'm fine really." _

Itachi let out a sigh; he knew something else was coming.

"_It's just." _ A soft coughing fit ensued for a moment, and then his aunt's voice came back a little weaker than before. _"Your father and I are getting on in our years and we rarely get to see you boys anymore. I just thought it wouldn't be too much trouble to come up once in awhile and spend some time together as a family." _

And there was the guilt trip again.

"No, it's no trouble at all." It was no use to tell her that she was barely in her 50s and still acted like she was 30, because that wouldn't help his case any; at least not while he was still on the phone with her and not actually in her presence. "I was planning on getting out of the city this weekend anyway. I'll be there by two on Friday." As he had told Naruto, he had Fridays off so if he left by noon, he could be there in about two hours. No trouble. There was little traffic once you broke the city line.

"_Oh really? You'll come? Wonderful! I'll have lunch all ready for you when you come. It'll be just the two of us. Sasuke will be up by five, so we can have a nice family dinner then. I'll make a duck and glazed carrots –I know how much you love those –with some rice and vegetables. Or do you prefer ham? Oh we'll make that the next night. I'll have you here until Sunday afternoon, right?" _

"Yes aunt."

"_Oh good. I am so happy. I can't wait to see the both of you. Any news I should know? A particular young lady you want to tell me about? Or bring! Have you got anyone close in your life?" _

"No aunt. No one," he deadpanned. It was routine, he knew, but that didn't stop him from mentally banging his head on the table repeatedly.

"_There must be someone Itachi. I want at least some piece of juicy gossip when you get here; so that's your homework. Got that?" _

"Yes aunt."

"_Good. Good. Is there anything you need? Any money you need us to send? How's your job going?" _

"No aunt, I'm fine. I promise. And if I tell you about work now I won't have any gossip for you on Friday," he said, trying to conceal an exasperated sigh, or else the questions would just continue until he really was banging his head on the table. No offense to his aunt, for he loved her dearly, but he absolutely hated being grilled. He was well aware it was like pulling teeth with him, but there was a reason for that –few people tried having a real conversation with him again. Wasn't the official definition of insanity to keep doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results? The few who should be classified as so were those related to him, Kisame for some odd reason, Deidara because he actually was an "insane" idiot, and Naruto. Naruto he still had no name or explanation for; yet at this point, he wasn't even trying anymore.

"_Oh well, I won't push you then. As long as I get a proper conversation once you get here. Don't think the three of you are just going to slip into the living room and stare at the fire place while I finish preparing the dinner and get out of saying anything. I won't let that happen." _

Itachi had a feeling that that was no empty threat, so he did the wise thing and agreed to placate her.

"No aunt. I'll keep you company in the kitchen then." He regretted those words the moment they came out of his mouth, but he knew attempting to stuff them back in would do absolutely nothing by now.

"_Oh Itachi. Really? You will? I would love that!" _He could hear her clapping her hands with excitement in the background. _"I'll definitely be looking forward to that. Would you like to help cook too?"_

Well, he was already digging himself a hole as it was; why not? "Sure."

"_Oooh," _she squealed, causing Itachi to move the phone away from his ear on reflex. _"That's my boy. You always were so good. Okay, I'll let you go now. Don't want to keep you from a date you might not be telling me about."_

"No aunt, I promise you –"

"_I'll see you in a few days. Do try to get here as early as possible; I want to start cooking early. Okay? Bye dear." _

"Goodbye aunt," Itachi smiled despite himself and hung up with a small click.

He shook his head as he went through his pockets to dig out his cell. That was one woman he could never say no to. No other woman would ever be able to have such a claim over him. At least no one he knew of in his life. His aunt would be very disappointed to hear that there was no one in particular in his life, but he really had not met anyone that kept his interest enough to pursue something. He knew he would get a long lecture about how he wasn't looking properly and how did he expect to keep his friends if he never put in the effort to hang out with them and that he shouldn't be such a recluse in such a big city…Well, needless to say, he got the idea. He just didn't care to make the effort. He was a private person and did not enjoy going clubbing or out for drinks with coworkers and such. It held no interest for him. In those scenes you just meet a bunch of drunken people who won't remember your name the next day, even though you may have ended up with their number on your phone. Who needed to go through that embarrassment? So Itachi had very few numbers in his phone: family, Kisame, work, a few acquaintances from jobs past, and Naruto. It was that last name that he scrolled down to and pushed talk.

It was only a bit past seven so Naruto should be out of….teaching? No, coaching at the gym? No, what was the third job? Artist? Itachi had never gotten him to finish his list of jobs. What else did he do during the week? Itachi would have to ask him next time they met; maybe he could give Itachi some ideas for himself.

"_Hello? Itachi?" _

"Good evening Naruto," Itachi said formerly, "How are you?"

"_I'm doing fine," _Naruto sighed through the phone, even as his voice held a sense of relief and cheer. _"I feel much better to get a call from you. Work was a bitch." _He sighed again, a muffled groan coming through the phone.

"Sorry to hear that." Itachi frowned, genuinely sorry to hear that Naruto had had a bad day. It seemed so unlike the blond he had come to know so far. "What happened?"

"Ugh, the usual. Yamato-san was being his usual stoic, uncooperative self. And to top it all off, Sai thought it would be funny to draw penises on all my final sketches before I handed them into my supervisor."

"Excuse me?" Itachi was more than a little alarmed and now extremely confused as to what Naruto's line of work could be.

"Yeah, and I had to erase the lot of them before my boss came over so neither of us got fired, my boss and I, not Sai. For all the penis comments he makes and sexual innuendo he fills the day with, I'd swear he had some kind of tenure, even though he's only been working there as long as I have. Two years."

Itachi opened his mouth, and then closed it again with a click of his teeth. He wasn't sure how to respond to that at all.

"I think it's Yamato who looks after him. Must put in a good word for the kid once in awhile to keep him in the good books, otherwise he would have been fired months ago for sexual harassment. 'Cause while some of us know he means nothing by it, newer employees are certainly scared of him –both men and women."

"What is your line of work exactly, Naruto?" Itachi finally dared to ask, not sure he wanted to know the answer at this point.

"Oh." Naruto paused; Itachi could practically see him frowning and putting the pieces of the conversation together as to what Itachi must be thinking. "Sorry," he chuckled sheepishly. "Yeah, I'm in Marketing. I do most of my work from home so I'm only in the office three days a week at the very most. Usually I just go in once a week if I can help it. Sorry, I thought I had mentioned it. You must have thought I was part of some brothel talking about Sai like that. Heh."

Itachi tried to laugh in response to ease the tension, but the thing wedged in his throat was preventing him at the moment. Who was Sai?

"Oh, yeah. And Sai's just a perverted coworker. And I friend, I guess," Naruto clarified as if he could hear Itachi's thoughts. "He has an unnatural obsession with penises and likes to make at least a hundred inappropriate comments a day, sometimes an hour."

"Oh," Itachi finally managed to say, swallowing the lump with some difficulty. "So how'd you get into marketing?"

"Through one of my musician friends who I do their cover work for; they hooked me up." Itachi could just hear the smile over the phone as Naruto seemed to be remembering how his friend helped him out. "It's kinda freelancing. Companies shop around for who they want to do their next commercial, billboard, or advertisement. So I could do months of work for one project for it all to come to nothing 'cause another marketing company was chosen over ours. But it's still fun. And sometimes I find that rejected designs work better for other projects, so it's usually never a complete waste. Anyway, I get to create and it pays the bills better than all my odd jobs. So I'm happy with it."

"Ah." Itachi nodded. "I see. That's good."

"So what's with the call? As nice as it is to dump all my work day problems out on a listening ear, I'm sure there was a reason you called, and not just to ask about me."

"Hn."

"Thought so," Naruto said knowingly. "Bad news? Your cancelling this weekend, aren't you?"

"I'm afraid so," Itachi agreed, finding the words harder to come out than he had planned.

"I knew it!" Naruto half-shouted in resignation. "You just can't plan out things like this. You have to let Fate takes it course."

"It's for a family gathering that my aunt has guilt-tripped me into. But I –"

"Nope," Naruto stopped him right there. "Not another word. I don't want to know where you're going or when you'll be back. We'll just have to run into each other again later."

"You have to be kidding me."

Itachi blinked at his own words. Had he just say that aloud?

"Nope. This was obviously not meant to be or your aunt wouldn't have called you for a visit. Why else would she pick the weekend that I invited you to visit Tsunade?" Now he was back into the whole Fate and Destiny thing, making his pitch with skillful persuasion that Itachi wished he himself had more of at the moment so he could counter back. Instead, all he could do was nod and plan to call Naruto the moment he got back from his aunt's place, regardless if Naruto thought he was fighting Fate or not. It would be a courtesy call and nothing more –or so he would tell both himself and Naruto.

"Right. I'll see you later then," he stated; not saying where or when or whatever else Naruto did not want to know. Why was he putting up with this again?

"Yeah, see you later," Naruto said back, his voice relaxing from its preacher-pitch as soon as Itachi had agreed. "Whenever that may be. Have a good weekend with your family."

"Thanks, I'll try." With that, Itachi hung up and closed his eyes.

_**_______**_

_Fear not! Another chapter is coming right after this one. After I got past 15 pages I decided to make it a new chapter. __ I guess you could say I'm on a roll. _

_Oh, and everyone should watch the movie __**Serendipity**__. I realised that may have been indirectly inspired by that movie when writing this fic. Plus, it's a great movie. _


	8. Chapter 8

_HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL! Ringing in 2010!_

_This chapter shall be dedicated to _cutsycat_. For some reason, every review she sends gets me thinking. So it is thanks to her that I finished this chapter faster than planned. __Big thanks! _

_NOTE: I know you are never supposed to apologize for your art –whether it be a drawing or piece of writing –but this is horribly un-beta'd. Rather, I got bored with some parts and did not revise them as well as I should have. So if you see a giant, glaring mistake, don't be shy to point it out. ;) _

_And without further ado, onto the next chapter! _

_**Strange Meetings **_

_**Ch.8**_

Friday morning, Itachi woke a little later than usual, knowing he didn't have to leave till noon. Taking his time, he ate breakfast and tidied his apartment a bit before stepping into the shower and getting ready. By half past eleven his bag was packed for his overnight stay and he was ready to go. He zipped the duffel with a satisfying grunt of a ring. Making his way to the kitchen he palmed a pear, throwing it in the air and catching it again before slipping it into the top of his bag, and snatched a granola bar and water bottle from the top drawer, which he placed next to the pear. Ready for the road trip ahead, he locked the door on his way out, was in the car by 11: 37, and heading out onto the highway by 11: 56.

The car ride up was a boring affair. Nothing good was on the radio and he had forgotten to bring his CDs; and with nothing to do but drive and watch the road, the whole trip up passed very, very slowly. Made even slower and quieter by the fact that he knew he should have a noisy blond companion talking a mile a minute by his side, instead of an empty car seat. He still wanted to know more about Naruto's job in Marketing. However, he wasn't about to admit his frustration over the fact that he didn't know when he would get to see his "friend" again. By now, calling him an acquaintance would just be insulting, yet 'friend' didn't quite cover it either. Yes, he was still having issues over his relationship with Naruto and what to title it, which meant he really needed something other than driving to do to take his mind off it all. And the radio's inadequacies to fulfill his musical needs were highly disappointing. Yet somehow, he made it the entire one hour and forty-five minutes to his aunt's new house by 1:48. His aunt would be happy that they could start cooking even earlier than she had hoped.

Grabbing his travel bag from the back seat and slinging it over his shoulder, Itachi locked the car, slid the keys in his pocket, and made his way up the cobblestoned pathway to the green front door. His aunt had a simple garden sweeping the front of the house from end to end; done quite tastefully in small odd-numbered clumps that balanced and spaced the right colour combinations and greenery against the white of the house. A garden was one thing he wished he could have back in his apartment. Not that he would ever tell his aunt that or she would be insisting that he move up here with her next. Then it would escalate into a whole pitch about how there were plenty of available jobs for him in town and that he could even work from home if he wished and then he could plant his own garden and spend more time with her. Which was exactly why he would not be bringing that particular wish up in conversation with her. Instead, he slipped a smile up on his lips and rang the doorbell.

"Itachi!" Hideko cried as she opened the door, flinging her arms around his strong frame the moment she could fit her small body through the opening between the structure and door. "How are you honey? You're early. Did you drive safely? How was traffic?"

Itachi's smile softened into a more genuine one as he guided his aunt back into the house and set his bag down in the entryway.

"Fine. Yes, there was little traffic, and of course I drove safely. How are you aunt?"

He looked down at her worriedly, he had to make sure she was indeed healthy and that that cough was only a scare tactic to get him and his brother up here. Her brown eyes looked a little careworn and her black hair was flecked with a bit more grey than he last remembered. The wrinkles around her eyes, mouth, and cheeks seemed more pronounced with every facial expression she made, showing her age with each crease. And yet, Itachi thought she never looked happier and healthier.

Still, he reached out and grabbed her shoulder gently, pulling her towards him to look more deeply into her face.

"I'm well, Itachi, I promise." His aunt swatted his hand away good-naturedly. "I'm all better now that you boys are here," she stated with such finality that Itachi had no choice but to drop the issue. That didn't mean he wouldn't be keeping an eye on her, though.

"Is Sasuke already here then?" Hadn't his aunt said he would be getting here later tonight?

"No, not yet. Your father's going down to the train station to pick him up in a few hours, by which time we shall have the whole meal prepared, right?"She smiled lovingly at him, scrutinizing every feature of his face adoringly before leaning in to give him another hug. As if he didn't already feel guilty enough about not visiting them in awhile, now she was making it seem like she hadn't seen him in a decade. It had only been two years. Not counting getting together with the family up North for New Years last year.

"Come on," she urged as soon as she released him from the hug. "I'm going to get a good lunch into you and then we have to get started."

Though he tried to assure her that the water, pear, and granola bar he had had thirty minutes ago was more than sustaining him, Hideko wouldn't hear any of it. He was getting a good turkey sandwich with fresh cut fruit and cranberry mayo in him – her specialty – and that was final.

Well who could turn down such an offer?

Nodding gratefully, Itachi allowed her to lead the way to the kitchen. Looking around each room he passed as she led the way through the hallway past sitting rooms, guest rooms, bathrooms, and drawing rooms, he noted that each was colourfully and tastefully decorated in Hideko's refined style.

"You did a great job with the house. Will you give me a tour later?" Itachi asked as he allowed himself to be finally steered into the kitchen.

"Don't think you're getting out of one," Hideko blushed, grinning like he had just bestowed upon her a great gift; which, in her opinion, he had. Hideko's landscaping and decorating were her passion. People came far and wide for her designing skills, so wherever they lived was the epitome of earthly beauty. "But only once Sasuke comes. You two can see it together. We have some work to do now."

Itachi didn't have to ask to know that Sasuke had probably not visited their aunt and father for an even longer length of time than he himself had. When he had told Naruto that he didn't know what Sasuke or the rest of the family were up to he hadn't been lying. It surprised him that his aunt hadn't tried something like this before. She must have really been at the short end of her stick to sink so low as to feign sickness. Was it possible to feel any guiltier?

"So what are we making for dinner?" Itachi asked, diverting both of their attention to the task at hand.

Hideko smiled with glee; her eyes glazed over in pride, most likely from the fact that her little boy was helping her in the kitchen. Itachi could only imagine.

"Well, we're going to start out with some simple glazed carrots, risotto, creamed spinach, I got some kimchi at the market last week, and finally a roast duck. How does that sound?"

"Sounds good to me." Itachi nodded. He wasn't sure if he had ever had creamed spinach before, but the rest sounded vaguely familiar. He knew she would receive no protest from anyone. When Hideko went through the ordeal to put together a whole meal, you ate it. Every male Uchiha knew as much.

As soon as Hideko stepped into the kitchen she seemed to grow three more inches. Her head held high surveying her territory; a determined pursing to her lips as she set her sights on the cook book on the island counter top and the two prepared sandwiches sitting on deep red clay plates next to it.

"I told you I would have lunch all ready for you," she said indulgently. "Come," she gestured to the wrought iron chairs on the other side of the island, "sit down. We have to start catching up." She dragged Itachi by the arm, gently pushing him into a chair, and then went around to retrieve the sandwiches before coming back to sit beside him. "Now." She crossed her legs and leaned forward on her elbows, a sandwich tucked in one hand and the other curled under her chin. "What's new? You promised me gossip."

Itachi sighed as he picked up his own sandwich and took a bite.

He should have been prepared for this. Hadn't he needed something to take his mind off the Naruto-problem earlier while driving? This would have been a perfect distraction.

"There's not much gossip to tell of, I'm afraid."

"Oh nonsense." Hideko waved her hand at him as though he was joshing her. "You must have something. You promised."

Itachi busied himself by taking another bite out of his sandwich. It was much better than a granola bar by far.

"Good sandwich." Itachi nodded to his meal. "Could I get a glass of milk to go with it?"

Hideko narrowed her eyes suspiciously, but Itachi knew she couldn't resist doting over him. And sure enough, she got up and went to fetch two glasses.

And just to make sure she wouldn't try to keep asking while she poured, Itachi took a few more bites, alternating between chewing and swallowing to keep himself busy.

"Here," she said as she set the two full glasses of milk down. "Now you're going to tell me _something_."

Itachi looked down at his sandwich, realising he had only a few mouthfuls left. Instead, turning to his milk, he picked up the glass and guzzled the cold liquid down.

Hideko smiled and watched as Itachi went from his milk to finishing off his sandwich, back to downing the rest of his milk.

"You've run out of things to occupy your mouth with." Her smile widened amusedly as Itachi froze, realising that his lunch was indeed done and he still hadn't said anything worthwhile yet.

"Hn," he grunted noncommittally.

"You think after growing up with you that I'm going to take _that _as an answer young man?" She reproached him, stern face, but humour still in her eyes.

"No, aunt." Itachi bowed his head, barely refraining from pouting his lip out like a little boy.

"Good." She clapped as though the whole matter was now settled and Itachi had agreed tell her about every second of his days since she last saw him. "Now where shall we begin? How about you tell me what your plans were for getting out of the city before I called you? Were you planning on going with anyone in particular?" She nudged him in the side, eyebrows rising expectantly.

"Hn," Itachi grunted, standing up and going over to stand in front of the cookbook. "Naruto invited me to his grandmother's house for the weekend." He closed his eyes with dread, just waiting for the onslaught of questions that were sure to come.

"Naruto?"

A moment passed, in which Itachi knew he was meant to supply more information, but he wasn't sure what he wanted to say about the man just yet.

Finally, Hideko took matters into her own hands. "Who's Naruto?"

Itachi opened his mouth and took a breath only to come up short. This issue of his relationship with Naruto hadn't been finalized yet. If he said acquaintance his aunt wouldn't believe him. What regular old acquaintance invites you to their house to meet their grandmother? In fact, if he was to be completely candid with himself, he'd say it sounded more like a boyfriend inviting him home to meet the family –he blatantly ignored Kisame's voice choking out an "I told you so" around a mad chuckle. But that _wasn't_ what it was. Not at all. Because Naruto was just a….a….

"A friend."

"A friend!" Hideko drew out the word with a surprised inflection at the end, promising trouble, not to mention the widening of her eyes and the growing smile on her pursed lips.

"Shouldn't we begin cooking?" Itachi gestured to the cookbook, hoping to divert her attention for the moment and get her off the subject.

No such luck.

"You have a friend, Itachi! And you never told me about him? How long have you known him? When were you going to tell me? Why didn't you invite him with you? I wouldn't have minded; especially if he was going to be taking you to his house in the first place. And you should have told me. If I had known you were going with a _friend _I could have waited another weekend."

She ranted on and on like a little school girl that Itachi felt he should put a stop to this soon before it got _too _out of hand.

"We only just met a few weeks ago." Itachi shrugged, hoping she would take it to mean that it was truly nothing; nothing interesting to talk about here. He swore.

He was never that lucky once his aunt's interest was piqued.

"And he's already inviting you over to his parent's place. Is there something you're not telling me Itachi?" Hideko asked with a knowing smile; pausing for a moment to give Itachi a good stare as she took the cookbook from him. "If there's a particular young man in your life Itachi I'd be just as happy, as long as I knew you had someone that made you happy" she promised.

Itachi shook his head, suppressing the frantic urge to grip the counter. "No, that's not it at all."

Hideko didn't take her eyes from him, her smile softening to one of amusement as she tilted her head to the side in silent question.

"Just friends," he repeated firmly. "We keep meeting in the most bizarre of places and end up spending some time together. It's not like we ever call each other and make plans first." He wasn't about to admit that he had _tried_ on several occasions, but apparently that just wasn't Naruto's style. "This man is very…_different. _I don't know. He just has so much energy and I think _he_ thinks of me as his friend, but then again he probably thinks of a lot of strangers he meets off the street and has a conversation with as his friends." He also didn't want to admit that that was probably the main reason why he refused to think of him and Naruto as true friends. It had just happened too fast. Uchiha's don't just make friends in a day. You are forced to spend time with a person given your similar circumstances and then eventually, if the person grows on you, you can be friends. You _don't_ meet someone at a convenience store and then have them stalk you around the city before they drag you along to some unknown, private, location and suddenly you're best buds. Why hadn't he realised how creepy that was before? Itachi suppressed a sigh. "He just invited me over for the weekend because we have been spending a bit of time together; nothing more," Itachi finished in the most toneless voice he could produce.

Hideko, meanwhile, was staring at him with her lips slightly parted in shock.

"It's nothing," Itachi repeated. "Yes, I plan to see him again, but just to be polite because I had to back out on him this weekend. We don't make a habit of our meetings, I assure you." Huffing in defeat and the circles he had just run his mind through –did he want to spend time with Naruto or should he label him as a creep and avoid him at all costs from now on?

A humorless snort barely escaped Itachi as he thought of avoiding Naruto. He wouldn't answer that question to himself right now, but there was no way in Hell he'd ever be able to avoid the blond. Neither Naruto nor himself would ever let him.

Closing his eyes, Itachi waited with dread once again for what would come next from his aunt.

But silence greeted him instead.

Itachi opened his eyes, but still refused to look at his aunt. If his aunt wasn't going to say anything then the matter was closed as far as he was concerned.

"That. Was the most I've heard you say all at once in years," Hideko finally said, her smile threatened to take over her whole face, despite the obvious efforts to suppress it for Itachi's sake. "I must meet this Naruto sometime."

Itachi merely nodded wearily, knowing he could shake her off the trail later when he hadn't seen Naruto in awhile and could say with certainty that Naruto was not a friend. Because that would happen someday. It was inevitable.

Itachi frowned. Why did he suddenly feel inexplicably wary? Or was that sadness? Or disappointment, like a matter-less weight dropping into your chest, warning you when something bad was about to happen?

Itachi shook his head. He didn't know what he was on about now.

"Okay."

Hideko's voice broke his inner trepidation and made him look up to see her flipping through the tabbed pages of the cookbook before landing to the right one. Giving a quick cursory glance to the list of ingredients, she slid it back over to Itachi before coming over to stand beside him.

"You read the ingredients out to me and I'll get the items. We're starting with the glazed carrots first, get them out of the way, dress the duck so it can sit out for awhile, then the risotto, and finally when all is done, we'll make the spinach. Oh, and don't let me forget to take out the kimchi."

Itachi nodded and went over to stand beside his aunt, looking at the list of ingredients over her shoulder with a cursory glance. "Carrots."

Hideko blew through her nose amusedly and tapped him lightly on his shoulder. "Yes, that would be the most important one," she said as she set off to find the carrots in the fridge. "Next?"

"Cinnamon, nutmeg, and orange juice."

The next few hours passed in bliss. Hideko cooked while Itachi helped, meanwhile, telling her, basically at knifepoint, all about his job, the book he was reading, what he did on weekends, how he was financially set at the moment, and no, he had not been going on a date with _anyone_, particularly not a new "friend", the night she had called.

Finally, the carrots were staying warm in the top oven, the risotto was being stirred by Itachi at the stove, and the duck was in the bottom oven –minutes away from being done and ready to carve.

Just as Itachi put down the wooden spoon and turned down the heat on the stove, the sound of the garage door opening started echoing through the house.

"Your father and Sasuke are home!" Hideko looked expectantly at the door to the right that led out to different hallway, which Itachi could only assume lead to the garage. "Oh I haven't seen the two of you in ages. I hope Sasuke's taking proper care of himself," she fretted as she stepped towards the door.

Itachi chuckled knowing Sasuke was in for the same earful he himself had just received hours before.

"Come say hello to your father and little brother, and then we'll get started on the spinach. It only takes 15 minutes or so, so no worries."

Reluctantly putting down the oven mitts he had been about to retrieve the duck with, Itachi nodded and followed his aunt out the door to greet his family.

"You should give Kakashi a call as well; he could set you up with Umashi corp. no problem. He owes us a few favours anyway. And remind me to send you those files from a few years ago; they should be helpful with all the cutbacks. Bad stuff going on now," Fugaku opened the door shaking his head.

Itachi managed a small smile and tactfully ignored the butt end of the conversation he had just heard. He was still mad, embarrassed, and feeling guilty about not taking over the company. After Hideko had set the family back on their feet and Fugaku was finally out of his depression, he had declared he was done with the company once and for all and could never return. Not surprisingly, he had "offered" it to his eldest son with pride, and Itachi had refused. Running a company wasn't for him. He didn't appreciate being plopped into a role and taking up responsibilities that weren't his in the first place. Still, he knew as the eldest son he did indeed have a responsibility to his family as well as to his father, to make him happy and keep him from falling back into his depression. All the same, he knew it wasn't for him. And while he didn't know what they were yet, he did have dreams of his own to follow. So, to slightly placate his father he had offered up Sasuke instead, knowing his little brother would jump on the opportunity and snatch it up before Itachi had even realised it was gone. His father agreed, but nothing has been the same between them since. But both males had learned to ignore the issue while Hideko was present.

Itachi kept silent more for the fact that his father would fall back in his depression, return to his office and shut the world out, or have some kind of heart attack if Itachi argued with him again. The important thing was that the company was taken care of. And Sasuke was actually doing an excellent job with it, though Itachi would be pressed to say so.

"Father," Itachi greeted once Fugaku had made it through the door and Hideko had pulled him into a familial hug.

Fugaku nodded in return and clasped Itachi's shoulder in a manly grip.

"Good to see you son. Hideko was ready to go down to the city and drag you up here herself if you didn't agree to come this weekend," he grunted, which was as close to a chuckle as he ever gave since his wife's death.

Itachi nodded his acknowledgement. "Good thing we were able to make up for some lost time while cooking," Itachi replied, turning to smile at his aunt, who beamed at him in return.

"I hope you made something good brother. I'm starving." Sasuke finally made his presence known after receiving a smothering hug from his aunt. "Train food is always inadequate," he added with an amused smirk and put his hand forward for Itachi to shake.

But instead of extending his own, Itachi reached out with both hands and pulled his brother into a hug.

"It's good to see you Sasuke," he spoke softly into the smaller boy's hair.

Sasuke stiffened for a moment, but then circled his arms around in response, gripping at his brother's shirt and bowing his head into Itachi's shoulder.

Momentarily surprised to have gotten such a warm response, Itachi smiled and snorted lightly through his nose, communicating his contentment.

"Come boys, I need you both in the kitchen." Hideko came over with a soft smile, more than pleased to see the two like that. "Sasuke you're setting the table; Itachi you're carving the duck."

"What about me?" Fugaku looked amoung the three of them, finally resting his expectant gaze on Hideko; everyone always had a chore, it kept them all busy and working, in her opinion.

"You get out the drinks –pour some good sake in everyone's cup." Hideko looked at each of them in turn, and then nodded and set them off on their task.

Itachi returned to his abandoned over mitts, keeping an eye on his brother who was rummaging around in the draw Hideko had pointed to for cutlery. Fugaku waited in the doorway to show Sasuke where the dining room was.

Once they had left the room Itachi turned to the oven, gloves fit tightly around his hands. The timer had already went off sometime during the greetings, so he knew it had to be at least a minute or two past done. Still, the oven blew out hot air as he opened the door, stuck the thermometer in its middle to check it was ready, and then lifted up the roasted bird.

"Oh no."

Itachi heard exasperated muttering from somewhere in the fridge, where Hideko had stuck her head to rummage furiously around for something. "No, no, no, no, no."

He dreaded to ask, but he was sure he was going to be asked to help sooner or later; so Itachi set down the duck and asked, "What is it?"

"Oh Itachi, I forgot the crème fraîche!" Hideko closed the fridge with a surrendered sigh and covered her face with her hands.

"The what?" Was that French? What did that have to do with anything?

"The crème fraîche, Itachi; I need it to make the creamed spinach, which will balance out the kimchi and complement the duck."

Itachi shook his head. He knew how to cook and that it was considered an art, but he was just one for following a recipe and getting it right, whoever said anything about dishes complementing each other?

"I'll get it. Where's the nearest store?" Itachi took off the mitts and made to find a pen and paper –he would need to have this written down to find it, as well as directions to the grocery store.

"You don't have to do that Itachi; I'll just run down myself. Or I suppose I could…" she tapered off, tapped her chin as she looked around the kitchen.

"I'll go, don't worry." Itachi finally found a pad of paper stuck to the fridge and ripped a piece off to slip it over to Hideko. "Write it down and the directions. I'll be back in no time. You go and catch up with Sasuke; I got you all day, he deserves some time with you as well."

Hideko opened her mouth to protest, but with a shake of Itachi's head, she nodded with a smile and went to get a pen.

Moments later, Itachi was backing out of the drive way and making his way into town. The grocery store was fifteen minutes away –quite the trip compared to the five minute walk from Itachi's apartment, but apparently a good distance out for a house in the country. And as he soon discovered, it really was fifteen minutes out; no traffic.

He soon found himself walking down the aisles silently, looking up at the signs hanging between each of the rows for…where would this be? He guessed it was with the milk. Hopefully, he thought, as he made his way to the other end of the store. It was surprisingly quiet and clean in here. Where was everyone?

His shoes made a soft clicking noise on the tile as he made his way to the other end of the store –from the produce end to the refrigerated end.

And there was the milk. Now he had to figure out where…

"Itachi?"

Itachi turned abruptly, hearing his neck crack at the speed it rotated, to see Naruto standing before him.

Naruto, with a red shopping basket hanging off his arm and a shopping list in his hand, looked just as shocked as Itachi felt.

Itachi blinked, readjusted his body to face Naruto completely and then discreetly closed his jaw.

"Naruto. What are you doing here?"

"I'm at Tsunade-baba's house." Naruto gave him a quizzical look. "I thought you couldn't come. What did you stalk me here? If so, you're doing a horrible job. You're not supposed to let your prey see you."

Naruto had his eyebrows raised in surprise and disappointment, making Itachi wonder if he was teasing him or he actually thought Itachi was doing a poor job of stalking.

"My aunt guilt-tripped me and my brother into finally visiting her this weekend."

Naruto raised his eyebrows even higher to that, surprise back on his face. "When was the last time you visited her?" He asked, not missing a beat in the conversation or asking what that had to do with Itachi being in the same grocery store as him.

"Three years ago." Itachi mentally toed the ground, bowing his head in guilt. "She basically took over after mother died and has been a part of our lives ever since." He didn't know why he felt the need to add the explanation of who she was to him.

"You didn't tell me about her before," Naruto shook his head in interest; quietly asking for Itachi to elaborate, just as his aunt had been doing hours before when the subject was Naruto. Ah, the irony.

"And you'll be seeing Sasuke as well, then." Naruto smiled. "I'm glad you'll finally get to see your family again. I'd love to meet them all, especially your aunt. Is she close to here?"

"Fifteen minutes up the road." Itachi pointed to the direction he thought he had come from; it was a little hard seeing as he barely knew where he was in this foreign store.

"No way!" Naruto's eyes widened in disbelief while his mouth slowly stretched into a brilliant smile. "Tsunade-baba is only ten minutes down the road. I had no idea we were so close. What a coincidence."

Itachi blinked. Coincidence indeed. He was tempted to actually ask if it was not Naruto who was stalking him. But now that he was in Naruto's presence again and not worrying over how to respond to his aunt's interrogation, those thoughts went flying out the door. The blond really didn't seem the type or Itachi would have gotten the creepy stalker vibes long before now as he did with many women, and some men, who decided that Itachi was worth _all _of their time.

"What house does your aunt live in?" Naruto asked excitedly. "I must know it; I practically grew up here after all."

"It's the white one with blue trim at the corner of Sand Turner."

"Oh!" Naruto's eyes lit up in recognition. "I used to go there when it was owned by an older couple and their daughter. I haven't met the new people who had moved in yet. How weird that it would be your aunt." Naruto shook his head with a smile. "I told you I'd see you sooner than you thought."

"Hn. You certainly did." Itachi shook his own head in awe and continued disbelief –would that be classified under denial? "So now that we're here, would it be against the rules to invite you and Tsunade-san over for dinner tomorrow night?"

"Really? We wouldn't be intruding?" Naruto asked uncertainly. "I don't want to impose."

"No problem at all. I mentioned you during my aunt's twenty questions this afternoon and she expressed an interest in meeting you." He himself hadn't been too fond of the idea at the time, but who knew when he was going to get a chance to see Naruto again? Might as well take this serendipitous chance while it presented itself. "I insist."

"Well." Naruto moved his basket to the other arm and softened his face into a more relaxed smile. "If you insist, I suppose I can't say no. I'm sure Tsunade-baba will jump on the idea of not having to cook another meal too." Naruto smirked at his own private joke. "Not that she cooks while I'm here anyway," he muttered to himself, though Itachi caught it all the same.

"You do the cooking?" He asked.

"Huh?" Naruto looked up like a deer caught in the headlights. "Oh, you heard that, huh?" He grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head hesitantly. "Yeah, I do all the cooking basically. She guilts me into it, saying she misses the way I make sweet potato casserole and lasagna and anything else I try. For years all she would get me for my birthday were cookbooks." Naruto chuckled lightly, again at his own private joke that Itachi didn't entirely understand just yet. "She's lazy, but she knows how to get what she wants. Still, can't fault her for liking good cooking," he said; the saucy grin back in place.

"In that case," Itachi responded in amusement, "you'll have to cook something for me sometime."

"Sure thing!" Naruto gave him the thumbs up. "I'll surprise you."

"Sounds good. But tomorrow we'll have to set an actual time, I hope you don't mind having something planned?" Itachi asked with amusement, while secretly worrying that Naruto would find a way to make tomorrow's dinner a surprise time as well.

"Of course not." Naruto shook his head like he thought Itachi was off his rocker. "A good meal trumps all. What time do you need us there? Can we bring anything?"

Itachi smiled in relief. "Six o'clock sharp. That way Aunt Hideko won't grill you for too long before dinner is served. And no, just bring yourselves."

Naruto titled his head to the side in question, but otherwise let the comment slide.

"We'll be there then." Naruto broke his gaze from Itachi to look down at the contents of his basket and finally the list pinched between his fingers. "I have to get these back to make dinner for granny tonight." He looked back up at Itachi with a blinding smile. "But I can't wait to see you tomorrow night."

Itachi nodded and turned slightly, in cue to end the conversation and for each to take their leave. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"See ya, Itachi!" Naruto waved briefly with the hand holding the list and made to turn back around to finish his shopping.

Itachi turned in the opposite direction to go before he realised he was still stumped.

"Naruto?"

"Huh?" Naruto looked back around expectantly.

"Do you know where the crème fraîche is?"

_**_______**_

"Naruto and his darn Fate," Itachi muttered exasperatedly as he removed his shoes in the foyer; balancing on one leg as he lifted his foot to untie his laces one-handedly, as his other hand was holding the crème fraîche in a plastic store bag. But with the grace of an Uchiha he succeeded without a hitch. "He's going to make me go crazy before I figure out how he manages to make everything fall into place somehow." He was ready to call out magic on its hand in this, but that sounded insane even inside his mind. Darn logic would win out no matter what. And Naruto could not possibly compete with such a force.

"Who's Naruto?" Sasuke suddenly appeared from around the corner, to come and greet his brother no doubt –or escape their aunt's questioning. "Is this someone I should know, big brother?" Sasuke stepped closer, his hands behind his back in a deceivingly innocent pose, only bellied by the conspiring Uchiha smirk on his face.

Before Itachi could even open his mouth to give Sasuke a good "brotherly" threat and put a stop to the thoughts turning in Sasuke's head, Aunt Hideko came running out to greet Itachi.

"Oh thank you, honey! You're such a dear. I don't what we would have done without the spinach."

Sasuke made a face behind his aunt's back; he hated spinach. He eyed the bag warily.

Itachi just smirked – served him right – before giving him a warning glare and followed his aunt into the kitchen. He would tell his family about Naruto in due time. He had invited him over for dinner tomorrow after all. He had to bring it up at some point soon. But it would be on his own time, not on Sasuke's.

_**_______**_

_My, my, this is drawing out to be quite long. I feel like Twisted Vixen has unknowingly set a challenge for me on words per chapter that I have to beat each time. I hope you guys are enjoying it. _

_Please let me know what you're thinking. I love to hear whatever you have to say!_


	9. Chapter 9

_Another chapter definitely going out to __**cutsycat**__. And not only because she dances for chapters, ;) but because she's my muse! No lie. I need her reviews all the time for all my stories. Another BIG THANK YOU! _

_And to __**Hic Iacet Mori **__for her amazing input and support. _

_Another chapter. And __**Happy Valentine's Day**__ to you all! Who's up for chocolates? _

_**Strange Meetings **_

_**Ch.9**_

Dinner was a silent affair.

As soon as the spinach was done, the duck carved, and everything was set out on the table, supper began. Sasuke sulked in his seat as he moved the spinach around his plate; Fugaku looked ahead with his usual stern stare, his eyes someplace else as he sat with his family. Meanwhile, Itachi had resigned himself to watching everyone. After a few minutes of complete silence, with the exception of light chewing and silver clinking on china, it was clear that Hideko had had enough. It was after a particular significant stare from his aunt that Itachi decided to get the ball rolling and picked up the bowl of creamed leafy greens in front of him.

"You want more spinach, Sasuke?" Itachi looked pointedly at Sasuke's plate, the greens being the only thing left on the blue, toile patterned china. Taking that as a sign that Sasuke must want more, Itachi offered the bowl to Sasuke with a tilt of his head.

"You've barely touched yours yet Sasuke," Hideko scolded; a scowl on her face as she looked down at his plate. "I know it isn't your favourite, but it's good for you –makes you grow big and strong."

"Ba-san," Sasuke moaned, "I'm not a kid anymore; I'm grown up already; I don't need to worry about eating my vegetables. I'm 22 years old" Sasuke cried.

"I don't care if you're 103, young man, you will eat your spinach. Itachi and I worked on this meal all day. Itachi, especially, went out to the store to get the key ingredient just to make sure you would have some green on your plate. Now eat up," she ordered, nodding to his plate with a commanding stare.

"Listen to your aunt," Fugaku finally added in his two cents with a stern look at his youngest.

Putting the bowl down, having escaped reprimand for tattling on Sasuke for the moment, Itachi smirked around a forkful of the "yummy" green stuff. Sasuke took a particularly violent stab at the "lovely" stuff on his plate; Itachi watching with an expertly-covered evil smirk on his face. Teasing his otouto never got old, no matter what age they were. It always worked to bring some good fun to the table.

"So Sasuke," Hideko started again once she saw at least half of Sasuke's spinach cleaned from his plate. "I haven't been able to get much out of Itachi, but _you _must have someone special in your life to tell us about." Hideko smiled indulgently, practically pushing her way through the table in an effort to lean closer to her youngest nephew, who was currently losing colour; fast. "The girls must be all over you. You're so handsome and running the Uchiha company at such a young age to boot. You must have to fight them off with a stick."

It still amazed Itachi at how different –as in exuberant, affectionate, and praising –Hideko and his mother were from the rest of the family. Hardly the moderate, tough-love Uchiha standard; and yet, they had somehow managed to warm the Uchiha men with little to no effort.

All the same, Itachi had to admit that he felt _slightly _sorry for his younger brother, at the moment.

Sasuke looked to the side, avoiding his aunt's gaze, and scratched the tip of his nose. "There's no one," he mumbled, eyes downcast as though the subject bored him already, but Itachi could see him really squirming to get out of the limelight. And when Sasuke's eyes widened for a moment with little tiny light bulbs inside, Itachi knew he had found a way.

"Speaking of which, how's Naruto doing Itachi?" Sasuke turned to Itachi, polite curiosity on his face.

And of course he got his wish; Sasuke's problem was completely dropped and forgotten about for the moment in favour of Itachi's.

"Naruto?" his aunt asked. "You know Naruto too, Sasuke?" His aunt looked quickly from Sasuke to Itachi, and then back to Sasuke. "How do you know about Naruto?" She turned back to Itachi. "How does Sasuke know about Naruto? I thought you said you two just met? Is there more to this you're not telling me?" she asked, using her stern, 'someone's-going-to-be-in-trouble-if-they-don't-tell-me-soon' voice to both boys. "You said you barely knew him." She retrained her gaze to Itachi accusingly.

Unfortunately for Itachi, Sasuke knew at this point to keep his mouth shut, even as Itachi looked at him with a glare that could kill if Itachi wished hard enough. There were brotherly squabbles and teasing, but this was going too far.

"So who is Naruto?" Hideko demanded; arms crossed and shoulders set, she meant business. "Who is he to you?"

"He's…" Itachi struggled to keep his jaw from quivering as he tried to think of what to say, his lips millimeters apart and frozen; his tongue tense behind his teeth. "A…mmm…friend, hn," he finished with an ambiguous grunt at the back of his throat. If no one understood him that was just fine with him, as long as he didn't have to repeat himself.

"An umfriend?" Sasuke asked, amusement dancing in his dark eyes. Apparently someone had caught at least something.

"A what?" Hideko asked; Fugaku merely grunted his confusion.

"An 'umfriend'. That's what Sakura calls me sometimes." Sasuke blinked, a smirk breaking through despite his apparent efforts to suppress it.

Itachi wracked his memory. Sakura was that pink-haired girl, a little crazy, but wicked smart and with a fairly good head for success on her shoulders. Itachi last heard she was working closely under Sasuke because of her knowledge in the medical field, as the Uchiha corp. had expressed a desire to expand its control in covering hospitals as part of its wide array of influence. So, she had gone from stalker in high school to temporary business partner all within a few years. Itachi didn't suspect anything more though. Sasuke seemed to have only tolerance and slight familiarity in his voice as he spoke of her. Nothing more.

"What does that mean exactly, little brother?" Itachi looked at his brother expectantly.

Sasuke smirked fully now.

"Just as it sounds. When someone asks you about a person; take Naruto for example," Sasuke barely suppressed a chuckle as he spoke, half coughing, half choking on his own breath as a result. When he recovered, he continued. "I ask you who Naruto is and you say, he's a…um…friend. An umfriend. It's usually used for someone of whom you're not sure if they're a friend or not due to tension or wariness, sometimes fear, or," here his smirk widened just a smidgen to make Itachi dread his next words. "Or, because you're afraid you might see them as _more _than a friend." (1)

Itachi was torn between amusement that Sasuke had knowledge of such a word and frozen fear that he didn't know in what ways he qualified Naruto as an umfriend. Was their tension? No, he didn't think so. Far from it in fact… Fear? Wariness? Well, maybe the latter, seeing as he wasn't sure if he could be friends with someone so quickly.

Yes, that was it.

Itachi nodded. "I suppose he is an umfriend."

Sasuke sat back in his seat with slight satisfaction and Hideko furrowed her eyebrows, sitting further on the edge of her own seat.

"But the way you were talking about him this afternoon Itachi, I could have sworn you knew each other better than that," she expressed anxiously.

Sasuke linked his fingers together in front of his mouth, hiding the obvious smirk, which Itachi was literally holding himself back from smacking off his face.

"I'm not sure aunt. It sounds to me like they do fall in the umfriends category. But then again, that could just be me. I mean, he is coming to dinner tomorrow night. That's special, isn't it?"

"I think so too!" Hideko declared; glad to have someone in agreement with her. "I can't wait to meet this young man who seems to have Itachi spun tight around his finger."

Itachi spluttered, his drink spraying out onto his food as he choked down on his own spit.

"Wha –what?"

Hideko smiled gleefully, Sasuke still had his fingers covering his stretched lips, and Fugaku was too confused at the moment to look anything but stern.

"Well you wouldn't just invite over one of these, umfriends, or whatever you call them, would you? Not to dinner to meet your own family." Hideko shook her head at the craziness of the idea. "That would be rude to give him the impression that you are friends, wouldn't it?"

Itachi nodded, not wanting to argue with her on such a confusing issue which he still didn't have an answer on for himself.

"Naruto," Sasuke narrowed his eyes in question at Itachi as he rolled the name off his tongue carefully. "You know, now that I think about it that name sounds familiar." He nodded to himself, closing his eyes as his face reverted back to its usual calmness.

Fugaku nodded as well. "You know, I think I've heard the name before too. It's an unusual name. I can't imagine there are too many Naruto's out there. I remember Kakashi mentioning his past partner had a grandson or nephew, I think, named Naruto."

Itachi raised an eyebrow at that. Naruto had only mentioned that his father had died in the force and his mother had been unfit to take care of him afterwards, then he lived with an older couple, only one of whom was still alive. Then again, it's possible that the young man had other family that hadn't been willing or able to take him in after the state took him from his mother.

"You will have to ask him when he comes over tomorrow night," Itachi stated with a sense of finality. He didn't want to be grilled any longer.

"Speaking of whom," Hideko came back into the conversation, "we should invite Kakashi over some time."

"I heard he's traveling for pleasure at this time," Sasuke deadpanned. Fortunately everyone knew what pleasure involved for Kakashi and let the matter drop for the moment.

"Well when he returns, you'll get in-touch with him, won't you Fugaku-nii?"

"Yes, yes," Fugaku nodded as his sister as he drummed his fingers on the table. "We'll have him over soon."

"Good," Hideko settled back into her chair. "Now that that's all settled, who's up for some dessert?"

Itachi raised an eyebrow, wracking his brain to remember if they had made a dessert while he was spacing out during one of his aunt's grilling sessions. Finally, he just decided to ask. "We made dessert?"

"I did, before you came." Hideko stood and gestured to Itachi. "Come help me bring it in."

Itachi followed her into the kitchen and stood by the door, waiting and watching as Hideko pulled a couple tubs of ice cream out of the freezer, then went around the island to retrieve a pie from behind the bread box.

That would do, Itachi thought.

"I think Naruto said he would be bringing something for tomorrow night."

Hideko looked up from taking off the foil on the pie, a surprised look on her face that quickly melted into a smile.

"Oh really? Did he say what?"

Itachi blinked. That had been completely unwarranted on his part. His aunt did not need to know that Naruto _might _be bringing a mysterious food. What purpose did it serve to tell her? Why had he even said that in the first place? It was like it just spilled out of his mouth while his mind was on auto-pilot thinking about desserts.

"Ah, I'm not sure." He wasn't, right? Had Naruto said what he was bringing? "He said it was going to be a surprise."

"That'll be nice." Hideko smiled wider as she folded the aluminum and put it to the side. "You want to get a couple knives from the draw?"

Itachi went to fetch the cutlery, glad to have a physical job to do at the moment and glad for the fact that she hadn't pressed for further details.

"You carry those and the ice cream." Hideko nodded to the two tubs on the other side of the island as she picked up the dish. "I'll bring the pie out. Oh! And get another set of plates and spoons, if you would."

Itachi nodded, his whole body felt as though it were walking in a dream; his mind a lethargic mesh of ice cream and Naruto; his body following, simply going through the mechanics of the chores his aunt was directing him through.

"Did you tell him what time to come?" Hideko paused at the door, pie held regally before her as though she were presenting the crown jewels.

Itachi's head jerked up, his mind being pulled in a sudden, new direction once again. "Yes, I told him 5:45, I believe, for dinner at six. I hope that's alright."

Hideko frowned. "Well, I won't be able to talk to him much before dinner, but I suppose I can try to get him to stay for a good chat afterwards," she decided, quickly –and once again effortlessly –smoothing over Itachi's "plan" to avoid her grilling Naruto.

"You don't even know him yet." Itachi stacked the ice cream and utensils, balancing them perfectly as he made his way towards her. "He might not be the talkative type."

Hideko scoffed. "There's no way someone who gets you to say more than a word without being threatened is anything but a good conversationalist. Don't try to fool me, Itachi, I know you too well." Those were her last words before she walked out, giving Itachi no choice but to follow her in silence, lest he argue his relationship with Naruto further, and invite the rest of the family to another round of teasing on his behalf.

He chose the silence.

"Pie!" Hideko announced to the two stoic men left sitting at the table. "I hope you all still favour apple."

Murmurs of assent and a smile or two followed, Itachi included as he set himself back in his seat.

"Good," Hideko affirmed. "Now everyone's getting a slice. Itachi has the ice cream –vanilla or Forbidden chocolate –if you want it à la mode."

Itachi rolled his eyes at that. Of course the vanilla was for Sasuke and their father. Uchihas were predictably simple. If it was even remotely sweet, it had to be as plain as possible. Itachi, on the other hand, most likely following after his aunt, liked to be the black sheep of the family. All things sweet were good to him. So without being asked, he used the knife to carve out two scoops of the rich Forbidden chocolate for both him and his aunt and one scoop of vanilla to his father and brother's plates respectively before handing them over to Hideko for a slice of pie.

The dessert went over splendidly, as expected. Itachi was luckily out of the line of fire at that point, his aunt seeming to be satisfied for the moment. Though Itachi feared that that satisfaction would only last until Naruto walked through that door tomorrow and then chaos would ensue –in other words, Hideko's notorious grilling and prying into business that most people preferred to keep private. But for now, Itachi felt at least safe enough to start up another conversation without it turning back onto his personal life.

"So Sasuke, Aunt Hideko promised to give us a tour of the house after dinner," he said with polite interest, glancing over at his brother and purposefully avoiding looking at his aunt, who had clasped her hands to her chest in pride and excitement the moment Itachi mentioned the word 'tour'.

"I hope she'll still be up to that after dinner," Sasuke grinned, taking the cue. "I'm feeling a little tired myself after eating all this; biggest meal I've had in weeks."

"Oh nonsense, you two," Hideko mock scowled at the brothers, swatting her hand at them in jest. "Fugaku, you take the boys' bags to their rooms while I show them around."

Fugaku merely nodded as he finished his last piece of pie, not even looking up, though a small, silent chuckle was heard a moment after as they got up to clear the table.

_**_______ _______**_

"And this," Hideko gestured widely at the threshold to the sitting room, "is where I like to sit down and read at the end of the day and do a few crossword puzzles in the morning." She led the way inside, pointing out the window treatments, fabric on the couch, handmade quilt from her friend, and stone fireplace for particularly cold days. "You're father can be found here once in awhile if I can get him out of his office long enough. He really needs to make some friends in the area," she muttered the last part to herself, giving the boys a familiar exasperated look, which they knew all too well meant, 'What is it with Uchihas and being antisocial? Was it really that hard to start a conversation with a random stranger?' Hideko tilted her head to the side, finger pressed to her cheek, as she pondered the issue.

"Hopefully you two will find nice partners that will bring out some good conversation skills in you."

Itachi raised an eyebrow at that. She had switched from saying, "nice young ladies" to "partners". He daren't even look at Sasuke, sure that that knowing smirk that was on his face. How had he gone from defining Naruto as an "umfriend" to his family possibly thinking he was gay? Shaking his head, he decided to let the subject drop and just agree tacitly.

"Alright, onto the conservatory!" Hideko raised her hand, index finger pointed up in the air, in a tally-ho manner; forging ahead to start on the second part of the house.

Sasuke hung behind a little; stopping just a second after their aunt had left the room, successfully preventing Itachi from following after.

"So seriously aniki," Sasuke lowered his voice, holding a hand to Itachi's chest to keep him in front of him. "Who is this Naruto character and what is he to you? I know you don't want to say too much in front of aunt, but you must see him as more of a friend if you invited him to dinner." Sasuke quickly checked the corner to feign that he was leaving to his aunt before quickly looking back at Itachi to see his whole face closed off. "Come on Itachi, I meet acquaintances at the store or on the weekends all the time, but I don't invite them over to my apartment." Sasuke raised an eyebrow; he had his older brother cornered and he had him good, if only he knew how good.

"Boys! Where'd you go?" Hideko's voice called back to them, giving Itachi an out to push against Sasuke and escape from the sudden interrogation.

Did Sasuke really think that he, Itachi, was having some kind of private affair or something? How well did that boy really know him? Did his whole family just assume he was gay because he'd never been on a date before –who had time for dates and the likes when taking care of your sick mother while finishing school and then working to keep the rest of his family together after her passing? Then, of course, after school he had a job, or jobs, to dedicate himself to so that he wouldn't have to rely on family money. However, that did _not _mean that once he brought someone home for dinner he was finally in a relationship. Pfft.

Sasuke jabbed him in the side discretely as they caught up with Hideko just as she entered another room.

Itachi responded with a glare of his own, wanting to silence the whole matter this instant.

"_Aniki,_" Sasuke hissed through clenched teeth. "You know you can't keep this from me."

Gritting his teeth in return as to not be heard over Hideko's next story about the history of the fabric, furniture, and reasons for setting up this room as such, Itachi hissed back, "I'm not keeping _anything _from you Sasuke and if you don't drop this now I'll let aunt know why you suddenly came down with a bad case of bronchitis that week before graduation."

It was rash and stupid and Itachi couldn't believe he had just black mailed his little brother, but that didn't mean he felt bad enough to take it back.

Sasuke opened his mouth, nostrils flared and eyes bugging out. "You promised," he bit out, accusation and slight hurt in his eyes.

Itachi grinned. "Now _you_ have to promise," he said back with a look of superiority that couldn't be challenged; he should know after all.

"I'm just trying to help," Sasuke pouted as he started to drag his feet behind Itachi. Whoever said he was a cold, powerful business man obviously never saw him with his older brother. He was still the _little _brother no matter how high up the ladder he climbed in society.

"No, you're being nosy and trying to get information out of me that I don't have yet. So I'm telling you to keep your nose out of where it doesn't belong," Itachi said with finality before going to stand closer to his aunt; this conversation was officially over. Because truth be told, _he didn't know what Naruto was to him! _Why couldn't his family just understand that?

Itachi made sure to keep a safe distance from Sasuke for the rest of the night until the tour was over and his aunt brought them to their rooms –side by side with a shared bathroom, as they were accustomed to in their old house, something Itachi wasn't looking forward to at the moment.

"I'll leave you boys for now. I expect you both down for breakfast by nine. No lollygagging around." Hideko smiled benignly at the both of them, tilting her head to side gently as though in reminisce. "Have a good sleep, the both of you."

Itachi and Sasuke nodded and then both leaned forward to give her a kiss on each cheek. Though not ones to show affection openly, they knew that their aunt was the exception.

"Good night aunt," they said simultaneously before bowing into their rooms.

Itachi closed the door behind him and waited for a moment before he heard his aunt's footsteps shuffling away. Letting out a sigh, he stumbled over to his bed and sank into the down comforter. Driving, cooking, a serendipitous meeting with his "umfriend", and then trying to explain said umfriend to his family had taken its toll heavily.

"You should get some good rest tonight so you can be a _fine gentleman_ to our guests tomorrow."

Itachi didn't even have to turn his head; he could practically see through his eyelids, Sasuke leaning cockily against the door frame to their connecting bathroom, a smug grin on his face and a mischievous glint to his black eyes.

"Was blackmailing you not enough?" Itachi groaned, rubbing his hands down his face. "Must I resort to murderous threats; or worse, come home with you tomorrow?"

"Pfft," Sasuke scoffed; Itachi opened his eyes to see his brother's head turned away. "I wouldn't mind if you…," Sasuke trailed off, mumbling.

Itachi sat up, curious now, and asked Sasuke to repeat.

"I _said,_ I wouldn't mind if you came to visit me some time," Sasuke said a bit clearer and audible this time, though still murmuring a little.

"Really?"

That was news to Itachi. He had thought Sasuke wanted his space after taking over the company at Itachi's suggestion. Once he had gotten out from his older brother's lime light, as people liked to say, surely Sasuke wouldn't want Itachi checking up on him.

"Hn," Sasuke coughed and turned to go. "It's getting late. I'll see you in the morning. I guess we can talk about things later…in the morning."

Itachi smiled at his brother's struggle with words, and at the fact that he was apparently more welcome to visit Sasuke than he had thought. They would definitely have to talk more in the morning.

"After all," Sasuke said, the cocky smirk back in place, as he slid the door close. "We only have so much time until your little friend comes to call." And with that he shut the door with a snap before Itachi could even jump out of bed after his hide.

_**_______**_

"No business at the breakfast table," Hideko's scolding voice rang out.

Those were the first words that greeted Itachi the next morning as he slid into his seat at the kitchen counter.

"You have plenty of time for that all day; not while we're enjoying a nice meal together." Hideko finished laying out the rules, the wooden spoon in her hand swooping down menacingly at Fugaku and Sasuke with every word, making the pair promptly shut their jaws.

"Morning everyone," Itachi finally decided it was safe to make his presence known once his aunt was back at the stove, finishing up the scrambled eggs and what looked to be his favourite, egg in a nest.

"Good morning sweetheart," his aunt said with a smile for him, all authoritative tone gone. "I've got you all taken care of; your eggs will be done in a few. Just pour yourself something to drink and talk amoungst yourselves."

Fugaku nodded in greeting to his son, his face relaxing slightly in a pleased expression to let Itachi know he was glad he was here.

Itachi nodded back with a small tilt of the lips before turning to Sasuke, ready to say what he had been thinking about all night.

"So would it be okay if I came up for a visit in three weeks?" Itachi asked, casually enough, cupping his chin in his hand as he leaned against the counter top; though, the tentative uncertainty of Sasuke's answer was still in the air, making him feel a bit tense.

Sasuke looked up with slightly widened eyes. Itachi tried to read whether it was shock or excitement, and decided he could see a bit of both.

"Yeah," Sasuke's pitch lightened considerably in his haste to agree. "That would be good. Do you know where I live?"

Itachi nodded; he still had his brother's address, the little piece of paper his brother had begrudgingly shoved into his hand the day after the blow-out fight between Itachi and their father. Right after said fight, Sasuke had been named the head of the company and then been forced to promptly move out the next day to fulfill the position. Itachi could tell back then that Sasuke had no clue why Itachi had given up such a prestigious position and probably assumed that Itachi had sacrificed his set future to give Sasuke the chance to succeed on his own, as a good older brother would do. He probably even thought it was a pity gift, and was most likely resentful of the fact. But now, Itachi hoped that, while some of those reasons were partially true, Sasuke finally understood the situation a bit better after a few years of maturation. If not, he would make sure to fill him in when they met again. Who knows, maybe Sasuke could help him brainstorm for a new job. Though knowing him, Sasuke would probably suggest a spot in the company or some other neighbouring business cooperation. No matter how much he loved his brother, he had to admit that Sasuke was horribly single-minded and needed to open his eyes a bit more.

"So now you two get to see each other again, but when will your father and I get to see you?" Hideko piped up again as she scraped the fluffy eggs out of the pan and into a large bowl. "I don't want this to be another several year thing." She gave all three of them the evil eye, one at a time, until they assured her that no such thing would happen again.

"I'm sure I can force myself to come down here more often if there's more good cooking to look forward to."

Sasuke smiled, taking Itachi's lead. "Yeah."

"How about you boys come up here at least once a month?" Their father phrased it as a question, but with Fugaku they knew it was anything but.

Hideko smiled excitedly. "That would be wonderful!"

Itachi and Sasuke both consented with a nod to their father and an exasperated, but amused smile at their aunt. They could both come once a month without a problem.

"Good." Hideko set down the pan in the sink and turned on the water to let it cool down with a hiss and a rise of smoke as the two competing temperatures met. "Now that that's all settled, let's eat."

"Gladly," Sasuke eagerly took a plate of cheesy scrambled eggs and the ketchup container from his aunt.

Itachi shook his head. Ketchup on scrambled eggs was still disgusting in his book, but as long as he didn't have to watch Sasuke eat it, he would be fine. As his aunt set down his own breakfast of a fried egg set neatly in a hole cut from a piece of lightly buttered toast –egg in a nest, as his aunt called it –he realised that nothing could go wrong with the world.

"See, I still remember all your favourites," Hideko said, setting down Fugaku's plain scrambled eggs in front of him with a smile. "Speaking of which," she turned to Itachi as she took her seat on the other side of the kitchen counter and reached for her own green tea and egg whites. "What are some of Naruto's favourites? I have to figure out the menu for tonight. What do you think would be best Itachi?"

"Uhh." Itachi panicked. He had no clue what Naruto liked. He had only said last night that, "he likes food."

Sasuke didn't even try to hide the loud snicker.

Itachi kicked him under the table; hard.

"I mean, I don't think he's picky," he amended. He couldn't even believe how stupid he sounded just now, but was not about to let Sasuke know so. "Anything would be fine."

"Hmm," Hideko hummed to herself, slumping in her seat at the less-than-helpful information. "I suppose I could do a roast. That's quick and easy enough. Or would you three prefer some fish?"

"Fish." "Meat." "Whichever's fine."

The three men looked at each other. Itachi claimed seafood to be one of his favourite dishes, Sasuke wasn't much of a fish eater –something about eating anything that swam in water that had God knows what in it, and Fugaku really didn't care either way.

"I think Naruto would like fish; we seem to have similar tastes."

Sasuke glared so hard at his older brother that Itachi swore his eyes were turning red.

"I have some salmon in the freezer," Hideko went on, oblivious to the two brothers. "Our nice neighbour down the street brought some back for us just three days ago. Tom, remember Fugaku?" she nodded at her brother. "So nice of him to think of us," she mused. "And I still have the spinach from last night and some hollandaise in the fridge from the other day." She pressed her tongue inside her cheek and started fiddling with her earring. "Mashed potatoes are good with fish too. With some capers maybe. I should still have fresh ones in there," she mumbled off, turning around to make a list.

The men ate in silence as they watched Hideko move around the kitchen, checking that she had the right ingredients. Some things they knew better than to interfere with.

Sasuke continued to glare daggers at Itachi for suggesting his least favourite thing. Itachi finally turned to Sasuke, after having ignored him for a good ten minutes, and rose in eyebrow in exasperation. "Mashed potatoes are your favourite, so quit your whining."

"Hn." Sasuke turned back to his breakfast, a slight pout on his face, but argued no further.

"So will I have my little helper in the kitchen with me?" Hideko drew Itachi's attention from his breakfast and looked at him expectantly.

"Of course."

"And Sasuke?" Hideko asked. "You want to help too? Or will you be taking him all day Fugaku?"

"I want to go over a few things with him before he has to leave."

"Fine." Hideko finally sat down again, list in front of her, to finish her breakfast. "Itachi and I will have all the fun."

"Of course," Itachi agreed; ignoring Sasuke's odd look, probably wondering why Itachi was enjoying cooking when he could be keeping up with the business world of power and prestige. If only his little could see the world for more than its straight edges and black and white components, Itachi thought. Maybe then he could understand why Itachi was the way he was.

_**_________________**_

Several hours later found Itachi and Hideko setting the table in the dining room; putting the final touches to the room.

"Oh, I think I hear a car." Hideko cocked her head to the side, her eyes looking up as she listened intently. "Yes, one's pulling into the driveway now. Itachi," she commanded, glancing at the man folding napkins beside her, "go get the door for them. We don't want them waiting on the steps."

Itachi nodded, abandoning his half-folded piece of cloth to head to the foyer.

"Now we haven't met these people before, so you have to behave."

Itachi stopped in his tracks. He could hear Naruto's muffled voice getting closer and closer as two pairs of footsteps got louder and louder.

"Don't tell me to behave you gaki!" A woman screeched in response, making Itachi internally cringe. "You're the one who has to behave. I'm the one who has to live in this neighbourhood, so don't go giving me a bad reputation. Who knows what this Itachi fellow has told his family about you so far."

Itachi inched closer to the door and pressed his ear against the wood, holding his breath for fear of catching them unawares before they were ready to ring the bell. From what he could hear they were mounting the steps.

"Whatever baa-chan. Now let's make sure we have everything."

"A little late for that, don't you think? If you forgot something it's too late now. Why didn't you check _before _we left the house?"

"Okay, okay. Bread?" Naruto continued as though he had not heard her. "Check. Tsunade hasn't drunk anything all day? Check. Bottle of her special sake? Che-"

"What!" Tsunade's shriek brought Itachi's hands to his ears. "You brought my special stock? For sharing?"

"Will you calm down?" Naruto spoke exasperatingly, "I'll get you some new bottles when I get back to the city."

"You better cook a good lunch tomorrow too, then. I want that pan-fried pizza again."

Itachi raised his eyebrows. He knew Naruto loved his grandmother and that he seemed to take care of her a lot, but he hadn't known she was a drunk. He didn't want to jump to any conclusions before even meeting the woman, but he knew the signs when he saw –or heard –them. He frowned; he hadn't known Naruto had to deal with that. Maybe it had come about after her husband died. He'd have to ask Naruto later…if he found the right moment. It sounded like a touchy subject.

Naruto sighed. "Fine. Fine. Are we ready now?"

"Of course, brat."

"Finally." With that, Naruto rang the doorbell.

Itachi jumped. He wasn't expecting it to be so loud.

Quickly jumping into action, he stood in front of the door and counted to three –didn't want to make it seem like he'd been there the whole time –before opening up.

"Naruto, Tsunade-sama. How nice of you to join us," he greeted him with his best presentation face.

"Hey Itachi!" Naruto grinned widely, slight relief in his eyes, if Itachi interpreted that correctly. "Long time no see," he exclaimed as he stepped into the house at Itachi's gesture.

Let the circus begin.

_

* * *

_

(1) The use of the term "umfriends" is thanks for Hic Iacet Mori. I don't know about anyone else, but I had never heard of that term before and thought it fit perfectly. So while she did not coin the term herself, it is thanks to her review that it is in this story. So again, thank you!

And yet again,

**Happy Valentine's Day!**


	10. Chapter 10

_To __**Hic Iacet Mori **__again for her awesome reviews that remind me why I love to write this story so much. And because she's taken to dancing for chapters too. That's always a bonus. ;) _

_And __**Bea, **__**who is the best and rocks my socks,**__only when the review contains more content about the story or the writing than anything else will I accept it in the running, __**even though you win everything because you are just amazing, and so modest!.**__Right now, __**cutsycat**__ is giving you a run for your money on longest –most relevant –review, __**though you rock more because you argued that you would like to be a meerkat today**__and __**Hic Iacet Mori, **__is a good runner up. But if the "little" green monster still lives or is sticking close to Chester, you're more than welcome to keep trying. _

_I bet you can't even begin to guess who wrote the bolded parts….. ;)_

_Well, I decided to let Bea keep her comments because she did a wonderful job beta'ing and this chapter would have been nothing, _nothing, _if not for her. So thank you! _

_Anyway, the circus is about to begin. Enjoy! _

_**Strange Meetings **_

_**Ch.10**_

"You must be Naruto, I've heard so much about you." Hideko appeared suddenly behind Itachi as he ushered the two blonds inside the entry way.

Naruto and his grandmother had barely looked around at the wood interior of the hallway and taken off their shoes, Itachi just clicking the door close behind them, when Hideko rushed in to give the unsuspecting blond man a warm hug.

"Welcome to our home." Hideko patted Naruto on the back before stepping away and holding him firmly by his shoulders to get a better look at his face. "It's so good to finally meet you," she said with a smile that gathered all the wrinkles around her eyes until Naruto was just focusing on the fiery sparks in small black eyes. "I'm Hideko, by the way; Itachi's aunt. You can just call me Aunt Hideko. You're quite the handsome one; I can see why Itachi likes you so."

Itachi was certain he had never blushed so much, at all really, in his whole life. If only knew how to get past that annoying clump in his throat, he would correct his aunt immediately and try to save Naruto from her.

But he couldn't.

Naruto laughed. "Thanks, I get that all the time." He smiled so wide in return his eyes were mere slits as he maneuvered his shoulder up and out of Hideko's grip to scratch the back of his head. Hideko let her hands slide from his shoulders, but not without giving his arms one last squeeze.

"Oh, I'm sure you do." Hideko winked at him with a warm smile before releasing him and moving on to his grandmother. "And you must be Tsunade," she exclaimed, taking her hand in a strong grip. "Pleasure to meet you."

"Heh," Tsunade smiled uneasily in return, lifting her hand to play with one of her pigtails before Naruto nudged her in the side nonchalantly, urging a further response.

Itachi realised where Naruto must have gotten his habit of playing with his hair. Thank God he only took that. Itachi had a feeling Naruto would not be the same man if he was a drunk. Then again, considering what Itachi's heard so far of his past and what he's seen so far with Tsunade, Itachi doubted that such a thing as drinking would never be an issue with Naruto.

Feeling his stare, Naruto nodded his head and smiled discreetly at Itachi.

"The pleasure's mine," Tsunade said with a smile so sweet that Itachi was sure she must have turned many boys' heads back in the day. "I've been hearing a lot about Itachi from Naruto as well." She bowed to the lady of the house and then looked to Naruto for further instruction.

Naruto rolled his eyes, obviously not as affected as Itachi at their parent's poking into their social lives.

"We'll have so much to talk about," Hideko cried, furtively pulling Tsunade forward with her through the first door on the left, into the dining room. "I hope you two like fish. Itachi said you weren't picky eaters." She raised her voice a bit for Naruto as she slipped through the open doorway.

"I love fish!" Naruto called after Tsunade and Hideko's retreating backs, his voice echoing slightly off the high ceiling of the foyer.

"So," Naruto turned back around to speak to Itachi, a somber look of one addressing a business matter on his face, which reflected in his lowered voice. "I find out last night your family's not completely vanished from your life," he nodded towards the dining room where light conversation was heard. "And now I come in here today to meet your lovely aunt. I presume your brother and father are in there as well?"Naruto nodded to the dining room doo yet again; smiled invitingly, though with a little mischief at having caught Itachi red-handed after telling him his story by the lake that his family was basically complete strangers to one another. It had been quite a solemn moment, where Naruto had felt a connection, that he wasn't the only one too have lost his family. And yet here he came today to find that Sasuke was not estranged, Itachi's father was most likely not locked up in his office, and there was some hyper woman Itachi hadn't mentioned before running the show. Not exactly the same picture Itachi had previously painted.

Itachi shuffled uncomfortably, inching away from the door the two women had just entered in fear of curious ears listening. He knew he had painted his family in a bad light the past time, but he really hadn't been home in a long while. He really had thought his brother wanted nothing to do with him, still wasn't sure how his father felt after their blow-out fight, and dreaded each time he had to call to check up on home and have his aunt bemoan him into a guilty mess for not keeping the family together these past years. After awhile, they all did seem like strangers to him, strangers that wanted nothing to do with him. His presence would only stick a wedge even deeper into things. Yet here he was, his family had come back together with just a click of Hideko's fingers, and it seemed no one besides Itachi was any the wiser.

"That may have been a bit of an exaggeration," he conceded. "But I really have not seen them in years and I only told you my perspective of things that day. It wasn't until this past Friday that my aunt finally threw in the last straw and guilt me into coming," he lowered his voice even further to almost a grumble, more so for that fact that he would not be overheard than his remembered reluctance at coming of course. Even Itachi noted the deep sarcasm within his own head.

Naruto narrowed his eyes, obviously not entirely pleased with the explanation, but apparently willing to let it slide for the moment.

"Your aunt seems like a wonderful lady." Naruto shrugged innocently.

Itachi smiled in agreement. Yes, for the most part she was. Hopefully Naruto would see that side of her better than her hawk-like qualities of determination she was sure to show once she started asking questions.

"Fugaku! Sasuke! Our guests are here, come out and introduce yourselves!" Hideko called, her voice echoing in the entryway where Itachi and Naruto stood, as well as throughout the whole house. "Come meet the man of our dinner conversation last night."

Naruto's eyes widened comically, a blush slowly forming on his face as his mind deduced that she could be referring to none other than himself. He cleared his throat and laughed out, "Good things, I hope?" He turned back to Itachi questioningly; all the years of insecurity and hope of wanting for someone to keep him in his or her lives long enough to make a difference. Suddenly the persona of Naruto letting his life rely wholly on chance made much more sense in this vulnerable light Itachi could see in Naruto's eyes. Naruto was looking for approval and a steady relationship as well. Perhaps he and Naruto weren't that different after all, they just took different approaches to life and making friends. Itachi ostracized people and those that stuck around –mainly Kisame and so far Naruto –could be considered…friends in his book. Naruto acted like he cared about everyone, but seemed to leave deeper relationships up to fate. Itachi had to agree, both methods were full-proof against becoming too attached and being left hurt and abandoned.

They really weren't all that different after all.

Itachi wished for nothing more than to bury his face in his hands at this point and think again on where Naruto fell within his group of people he knew, but at the look from Naruto he felt the sudden need to reassure the blond and effectively sink into the floor at the same time.

"Of course," Itachi said just above a whisper before turning around, effectively hiding his face from the other man, and headed quickly into the dining room; Naruto not far behind.

"Ah, you're all here now!" Hideko smiled, excited, as Itachi and Naruto entered the room the same time as Fugaku and Sasuke slipped in from the side door on the other side of the room, behind the long oak table that glowed in the light from the window above. The four men stared at one another, their socks scuffing on the rug as they stopped swiftly in their tracks.

"Come to the centre everyone," Hideko motioned the desired unity with her hands, Tsunade already by her side, confused and looking a little lost at the sudden standstill and silence.

"I believe introductions are in order," Fugaku said as he stepped up to shake hands with Tsunade. "Uchiha Fugaku."

"Senjuu Tsunade; pleasure." She shook his hand in turn, a little more confident this time with someone not quite as exuberant.

"And Naruto?" Fugaku moved over to Naruto, eyes scrutinizing the young man up and down.

Naruto nodded and took the man's outstretched hand, shaking it vigorously. "Uzumaki Naruto, at your service."

Fugaku shook his head, still appraising the man with his eyes.

"Is something wrong sir?" Naruto asked kindly.

Itachi mentally hit himself over the head. He had told Naruto that his father was depressed and here his father was out and about, greeting guests like it was something he did every day.

Fugaku nodded while his eyes narrowed as though in contradiction to his own words. "Your name sounds familiar."

"Can't say I get that a lot," Naruto smiled, his free hand going to rub the back of his head again. "But maybe I can help you; where do you think you heard it?"

"From a business partner, I doubt you'd know the name." Fugaku shook his head with a guttural grunt at the back of his throat, easing his stare just a little and taking a step back for personal space.

"Try me." Naruto smiled good-naturedly; a question in his voice to avoid any confrontation with the head of the house.

Itachi was caught between curiosity and amusement. Naruto either figured out that his father was not as depressed as Itachi had mentioned or he was holding a normal conversation for the sake of not treating Fugaku any different. Itachi hoped it was the former; he didn't want to have to explain this to Naruto as well.

Fugaku seemed momentarily surprised that the young man did not just let the matter drop as would be wise when speaking to one's elders. But he quickly recomposed himself and straightened to his full height of 6'8.

"Kakashi Hatake," he said in his usual clipped, strong business manner, straightening his dinner tie with a sense of purpose and, as everyone sans the two guests in the room recognised, superiority. "The president of –"

"Umashi, yes."

Everyone turned to the unlikely source: Tsunade.

"My late husband was his business partner," she said in a solemn voice as she bowed her head, cuing Naruto to finish answering any more questions.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Hideko laid a comforting hand on the blonde woman's shoulder, staying silent until the other woman had regained her composure.

Itachi could see now why the woman drank, it seemed to be a coping mechanism to forget, or maybe dull the pain. She must have been very attached to her husband. Who knew his father and Tsunade-san had something in common?

"His name was Jiraiya." Naruto's voice broke everyone's somber thoughts and turned their gazes his way. "He usually liked to stay out of the limelight of the business world as much as he could in order to travel and do his," Naruto coughed, "research, more often. But he had a great mind for business and Kakashi was more than happy to facilitate the paperwork side for reasons of his own." Naruto rolled his eyes, and as all those in the room knew Kakashi, nothing more needed to be said. "But he died of a heart attack six years ago and we've fallen out of contact with Umashi since."

"Uzumaki Naruto." Fugaku stepped up again, saying the man's name with a different tone this time, one of recognition. "Jiraiya's adopted son."

Naruto nodded.

Blinking, Itachi ran his eyes up and down the blond once more. Naruto really was just like him. He had stood to inherit a huge company, second only to Uchiha, and he had turned it down to run around in the city doing odd jobs here and there to pay the bills. Naruto could be a business tycoon –Itachi had no doubt the man had the head for it from the way he seemed to get along with anyone and everyone so well. In fact, Naruto seemed quite articulate, eloquent even, when he wanted to be –and yet here he was, being introduced to Fugaku for the first time at a family dinner. Despite what Itachi kept telling himself, he found himself becoming more and more attached to Naruto by the second, with each new thing he learned about the man.

Sasuke, who had obediently followed his father across the room to stand in front of his brother and Naruto, seemed to share the same sentiment. Well, about the fact that he was just like Itachi –standing to inherit a big name company and rejecting it for unknown reasons.

"You could have inherited half of Umashi corp. and you turned it down?" Disbelief and incredulity let the whole room know exactly what he thought of Naruto; an idiot.

Itachi mentally sighed; he guessed that he just received his answer on whether Sasuke understood his own decision yet after all these years.

"You make it sound like I turned down a year's supply of ramen and those peanut butter-like mochi." Naruto crossed his arms and raised a disbelieving eyebrow of his own, leaning back as far away from Sasuke as possible. "Don't need to be so transparent about the fact you like to roll around in money at the end of the day, Scrooge. Or should I just call you a bastard?"

"What!" Sasuke's eyes flashed dangerously and his hands clenched visibly at his sides. "You want to say that again imbecile?"

No Uchiha was ever so quick to anger, especially not visible and violent anger, yet there Sasuke was for the world to see and he couldn't take his eyes off Naruto. If Itachi wasn't so morbidly fascinated at this new side of his little brother, he might have noticed the little electric spikes of territorial instinct going through his head. Or he was just really good at ignoring that which he could not explain at the moment and would only cause his grief at a moment he needed his full mental capacity and attention.

"You heard me." Naruto bent forward in a slightly animalistic crouch of his own, canines slightly bared and the elongated marks on his cheeks as he lifted his upper lip in a snarl did nothing to mollify that fox-like image. "Ass hole," he muttered, just loud enough for the three men around him to hear.

Sasuke's eyes widened until his entire iris shown before he pounced.

And all hell wreaked havoc.

"Sasuke! Get off Naruto!" Hideko cried, rushing forward as soon as the first punch was landed.

Naruto blocked a punch from Sasuke, who in turn jabbed his elbow into the other's solar plexus, disabling him for a moment. Long enough for Sasuke to pin Naruto to the ground, but not long enough for Naruto to recover and then over power the boy, rolling him over until Sasuke was on the bottom.

"Naruto! Are you crazy! Get your ass off the floor!" Tsunade cracked her knuckles, but the two boys were too far gone at that point to even hear the threatening sound.

Noting that strength was not on Sasuke's side, the young Uchiha took to biting the arm that was holding down his shoulder. Naruto retaliated by punching Sasuke in the jaw with his free hand, slamming his face into the rug and effectively freeing his arm.

It was Itachi who finally yanked the two apart, pulling Sasuke up by the scruff of his neck and holding him back from lunging again at the blond who was still panting on the floor, fists raised in warning.

"What in the world Sasuke?" Itachi stepped back as Fugaku took a menacing step forward. Never had he seen one of his sons act in such a disrespectful manner. Fists were not the way to handle things –caustic words and stoic power was.

Meanwhile, Tsunade did her part in yanking Naruto up off the floor by his collar and shaking him for good measure.

"What were you thinking? Are you stupid? Is that anyway to act as a _guest, _for crying out loud?" She practically shrieked, an inch from his face. Naruto's face was set in a scowl, noting all the cracks in her makeup as she continued to scolded, straightening him out while giving him the glare of a lifetime. "What part of _behave _did you not understand?"

Naruto broke from her hold and pulled at his collar with both hands while Tsunade tried to straighten his unruly mess of hair by licking her fingers and combing them through the blond mass. "Sorry," he mumbled as he titled his head away from her dancing fingers, but she grabbed at the back of his shirt again for safety measures. "The teme started it. The bastard," he muttered, vainly trying to pull away from her clutches.

Sasuke opened his mouth to retaliate the quiet comment only to close his mouth with a snap at one look from his father.

"I apologise." Tsunade bowed with a stricken look at both Fugaku, who was had his youngest son's collar tight in his hands like a noose, and Hideko, hand to heart like she was about to have a heart attack, still only a foot way from where she had started from before the fight broke out. "I am so sorry. We'll get out of your hair now. I really am –"

"Idiot needs his grandmother to apologise for him?" Sasuke muttered as his father finally let go of his arm, taking a threatening step forward.

"Why you…" Naruto broke free from Tsunade without a second thought and lunged at the other man again, hands out and ready to grab Sasuke.

"Time for dinner!" Hideko's shout broke the two wrestling boys who had caught each other's fists in midair and were about to begin another all-out brawl. Her high-pitched cry made them freeze and stare up; caught like a deer in headlights.

All but Itachi and Hideko looked ready to kill someone, yet at Hideko's words the whole room fell silent, each face turned to her in a mixture of shock, uncertainty, and slight fear.

"No one's going home." Hideko put her foot down, staring down every person in the room until she got consenting nods from the lot. "We're all eating now. So everyone sit down in their seats and I'll be back in a bit. Would you mind helping me bring the dishes out, Itachi?"

"I'll help," Tsunade said, a blush of pure humiliation staining her cheeks as she hurried to Hideko's side.

"Are you sure you don't mind?" Hideko smiled at Tsunade's insistent nod, waving off the other woman's embarrassment with a hopeless glance at the men in the room. Tsunade also looked back to glare harshly at Naruto, clearly telling him that if he tried any more funny business she would be dragging him out of there on his ass, no matter what nice people with nice _manners _insisted.

"Sasuke, sit down," Fugaku looked sternly at his son after the two women had left the room.

Sasuke straightened stiffly and made his way to his side of the table, Itachi and Naruto following suite. As they were about to sit down, Naruto brushed past Sasuke, a bit harder than necessary, to whisper harshly in his ear.

"For your information, the job offer is still open for whenever I want it, bastard." He jerked his head to side, a small pout on his lips as his voice softened into a more childish whine. "I just happen not to want it." Looking back for a moment, he stuck his tongue out for good measure before taking a seat between Sasuke and Itachi.

Sasuke cast a wary glance at his father, whose attention was thankfully diverted for the moment, before sending a withering glare at the blond, knowing not to open his mouth and instigate another fight. At least not while his father and aunt was still in the room. Naruto sent him a glare back, not as menacing but just as promising. They obviously held very different values and neither would be the one to budge.

Naruto finally looked away, not getting any where the stubborn prick. He pointedly looked around the dining room, the large crystal chandelier above, acting like a prism and sending rainbow patterns all around the room. His eyes darted left and right as he followed every spectrum at every angle.

Itachi was just barely able to hide the smirk of glee that was bursting to beak his face. He had not seen Sasuke so rivaled up about anything in years. He knew Naruto had a charm about him –putting it nicely, of course –but he had never imagined getting his little brother to lose his temper would be one of them. Even he had not accomplished such a feat in years. But he supposed, as the saying goes, 'fight fire with fire'. And Uzumaki Naruto definitely had fire.

"I've got fish and some mashed potatoes," Hideko announced as she made her entrance into the room again, setting the items on the table with a particular flourish. Tsunade followed seconds later, brandishing some capers and spinach.

Once everything was elaborately set on the table and everyone was comfortably in their seats, they all bowed their heads and gave up thanks for the food on the table.

"Itadakimasu," they muttered in unison, before looking up and waiting for the head of the house, at the head of the table, to fill his plate first. Guests followed next, Tsunade placed on Hideko's right hand side, and Naruto on the left hand side between the two brothers. Then, the lady of the house, at the other end of the table by the window, added food to her plate, and finally Itachi, by Hideko, and Sasuke, on Fugaku's left, each took their fill.

"So," Hideko began, apparently determined not to have silence at her table again, especially not in the presence of guests. "Tell me more about yourself, Naruto. Itachi has only given me little hints here and there. I have to say, I'm curious as to how well you two know each other. How did you meet, again?"

Itachi stared pointedly at the napkin in his lap, not even daring to look at Naruto. His aunt knew that Itachi had not told her how he and Naruto met, and considering the odd –and slightly creepy –first meeting that led to the second strange reunion, he hadn't planned on it.

"Oh," Naruto put his utensils down to rub the back of his head, a habit Itachi was surprisingly growing quite fond and amused of. "Well, where to begin. Our meeting?" he asked with a mix between a questioning and matter-of-fact voice, glancing uncertainny at Itachi for a moment before quickly looking away again and back to Hideko.

"Yes, please. I would love to hear the story." Hideko sat back in her chair, also abandoning her meal for the moment to give Naruto her full attention.

"Eh, well actually, we met at a convenient store by a gas station." Naruto smiled openly, as though it was the most ordinary meeting place; either that, or he was really good at hiding his discomfort. "Itachi was working late, I presume, and was looking for a microwave meal. I pointed him to the ramen section, 'cause I was there for the same reason, getting some fuel for the night and the next morning. I'm always out of ramen," he shook his head to the side in a disbelieving afterthought. "Anyway, Itachi looked a little lost, probably sleep deprived at one in the morning or something, so I decided to give him a little push."

"A gas station?" Sasuke had one eyebrow artfully raised in disdain, speaking volumes to what he was really thinking. Itachi mentally fought down a blush. He wished Naruto would end this story, and fast.

"Yeah," Naruto tactfully ignored Sasuke, not even sparing him a glance. Though Itachi was not so inhibited and turned a silencing glare to his little brother, only to have it turn into a smirk as he saw the growing bruise spreading across his little brother's jaw. Naruto packed a punch.

"I tried talking to him," Naruto continued, oblivious to the glaring contest going on between the brothers over his head. "But he wasn't in the best of moods, so I finally left him alone. So imagine my surprise when he turns up at the gym I work at a few days later," Naruto exclaimed, bringing both his hands up to the table with a wild, surprised gesture. He seemed to becoming more and more comfortable as the story went on; his posture much more relaxed, though he was visibly leaning further back in his chair than needed. Apparently the glaring match going on around him had not escaped his notice. "And yeah, then I got Itachi to go running the next day and it's all history from there." He shrugged, looking expectantly at Hideko.

"Itachi went to a gym?" Sasuke never broke his glare from Itachi's as he added another two cents to the conversation.

Sasuke and his comments were going to get him a very wet bed tonight, Itachi thought, mentally enjoying all the ways he could torture his brother as he slept. Though nothing could beat the time twelve years ago when Itachi had been able to effectively convince Sasuke that his hands were freezing cold and his bed wet because he was under the Uchiha curse and his ancestors had tried to conduct lightning through his body while he slept. But as they soon found Sasuke to be an unworthy candidate, the young boy had wet himself in fear and was forced to forget everything the next day. Luckily, Itachi had seen it all and had known exactly what Sasuke was _supposed _to do, as he, Itachi, had actually passed the test when he was Sasuke's age.

It had frightened Sasuke to the bone and he refused to go to bed by himself for weeks, making their mother stay up late nights with no clue as to why. Itachi had felt a little guilty over that, but then again, he knew how much his mother loved to baby Sasuke, no matter his age.

Still, Itachi was pretty sure Sasuke was no longer _that _gullible. So he would he have to think of something newer, better, this time. Didn't he miss the good old days when Sasuke took his every word as canon law?

"Wow, you two really know how to pick meeting spots," Tsunade added her own two cents with an ironic grin. Itachi was abruptly forced back into the present world where Sasuke's bruised face was the only thing keeping him at bay from launching at the boy, much like Naruto had done earlier.

"I suppose not the most romantic of settings…" Hideko trailed off, her eyes glazed off to the side.

Itachi felt himself slowly sink into his seat with further embarrassment, all thoughts of torturing Sasuke whipped out of his head with a snap of his aunt's fingers. She had to be kidding. His anger at Sasuke was quickly rekindled though by the undisguised snickering from his little brother, followed by the surprised stuttering from Naruto as he seemed to be choking on his spit. He could not be here right now.

"Romantic?" Fugaku seemed to be the only one who had completely missed the boat. Itachi wasn't sure whether to be relieved and thankful or further mortified. "What's romantic?" He repeated, as everyone had turned to him with dumbstruck, mortified, or incredulous looks.

Hideko rolled her eyes at her brother, but otherwise brushed his comment off with the wave of her hand. "The important thing is that you met." She nodded, seemingly pleased at that fact at least.

Itachi slowly closed his eyes and barely refrained from covering his face with his hands.

"Uh, yeah," Naruto's chuckles sounded so false that even Itachi was embarrassed for him, but being in the same situation as the man, his position wasn't much higher at the moment.

"So," Fugaku cleared his throat. He was still confused and obviously no longer in the same ballpark as the rest of the table, but he'd be damned if he lost control of the conversation. "Naruto, if you haven't taken over the company after Jiraiya, what do you do now?"

Naruto whipped his head so fast towards Fugaku as he practically jumped on the question that Itachi was sure he would have whiplash.

"I teach at the local high school on weekends for kids who need extra help. I work at a gym a few days out of the week too, but mainly I'm an artist for an advertising company." Naruto nodded up and down enthusiastically, clearly more than proud of his miscellaneous jobs.

"Ah," Fugaku nodded, his indifference barely hiding the shock and askance flickering in his eyes. "I see."

Naruto probably wouldn't have noticed the less-than-excited response if not for Sasuke's unconcealed snort.

"Wow, that sounds like a sailor's life to me." He picked up his utensils again and scooped some mashed potatoes into his mouth.

"Sasuke!" Hideko reprimanded, halting all argument before it could even begin.

Taking advantage of the moment where the attention was on Sasuke and not him and Naruto, Itachi leaned to the side and whispered his apologies to the other man.

"I had no clue it was going to be this bad."

Naruto grinned, momentarily satisfied with Sasuke's scolding and basking in the reprieve from the limelight.

"Nah, it's no problem; family's like that." He chuckled uneasily again.

Itachi smiled lightly in return; sneaking a glance at his aunt to see her still reaming Sasuke out. His little brother looking much more contrite and incredibly stupid with the spoon still hanging out of his mouth.

"You know," Naruto brought Itachi's attention back, "this is a one-time thing, right? This doesn't set a precedent for future dates."

Dates. Dates? Who ever said anything about a date?

"I mean, you can't be setting times and places any more. Family and food are the only exceptions." Naruto sent him a stern stare; arms crossed and body tense, waiting for a response.

Oh. He meant 'date' as in a day. Not a date-date. Like as in _boyfriends. _Just a day-date…time. A day.

"Yeah. Of course," Itachi stumbled over his words, practically stuttering as he realised he was just staring dumbly at Naruto, the word date still fumbling around in his head.

"Good." Naruto smiled before turning back to his plate to return to his fish. Looking up, he made to reach for some more potatoes, which Itachi graciously picked up and held in front of him. "Thanks Itachi!" Naruto chirped as he took the spoon and ladled some more mushy, white potatoes onto his plate.

"So –" Itachi stopped. Did it even matter? Should he ask? Why did he care?

Ah, hell with it.

"So does that mean if I were to ask you out to dinner, I could call and set a time ahead and you would come?"

He was just curious? Did Naruto mean that if eating was involved Itachi wouldn't have to be beating his head into the ground, wondering whether he should go somewhere to wait a whole day for a flighty blond?

Again, why was he still pursuing this? He didn't know. And he still was not interested in answering any questions to his conscience that involved Naruto. He refused. He mentally crossed his arms, slumped back in his chair, and pouted. Mentally, of course, so no one would see. He was getting much too frustrated with this man than he should.

"Hmm," Naruto paused in swirling the food around his plate to think. "I suppose." He nodded thoughtfully, bottom lip slightly further out than the top as he felt out the idea. "But we'd have to put a cap on how many times per month."

Month?

"Month?" Itachi voiced. "I would hope at least per week."

Naruto scrunched up his nose and shook his head as he looked around the rest of the table for what else he wanted to add to his plate. "Could you pass the capers?"

"Not until you say 'week'," Itachi said matter-of-factly. He was not going to be counting how many times a month he could call Naruto. "It's food for food. A win-win deal, I would think."

Naruto narrowed his eyes and screwed his mouth up, looking dartingly between the bowl of capers and Itachi. It was too far for him to reach by himself.

"Two weeks."

"Week and a half."

"Week and two days."

"Week and three days."

"Deal."

Itachi grinned. A moment later, poorly hidden chuckle bubbled forth dulcetly.

"Hey! Wait! You tricked me!" Naruto pointed an accusing finger at him, indignation written all over his face.

Itachi's smile widened indulgingly. "I did no such thing. You said it yourself. A week and three days. Seeing as we have work during the week I don't think that should be a problem. Do you?"

Naruto maintained his suspicious look until he admitted defeat with a small sigh and broke into a grin again. "Alright. A week and three days it is." He stuck out his hand for Itachi to shake, which the raven did willingly. "Now pass the capers," he commanded jokingly.

"Fine." Itachi reached over to present the plant to Naruto.

From the other end of the table, an amused look passed between Hideko and Tsunade.

Unknown to both Naruto and Itachi, who were digging into their meal with a certain concentration, Sasuke was giving Itachi and Naruto a calculating look, eyes darting between the two before finally resting on Naruto. Fugaku, deciding that everything was finally settling down again, turned back to his meal as well and kept Sasuke and Naruto in his peripheral vision. Was it such a good idea to keep them so close together?

All in all, Itachi supposed the dinner was not a complete failure so far.

_**_______**_


End file.
